We all fall in love one day, Princess
by TheFrenchGal
Summary: Ghibli Highschool AU – San literally bumps into Ashitaka, newly transferred student in Iron High. Things start up on an awkward base between the two, and San can't stand the boy's presence. But only fools don't change their minds.  Abandoned
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **We all fall in love one day, Princess

**Rating: **K +

**Summary:** [Highschool AU] San literally bumps into Ashitaka, the new transferred student in Iron High. After such a rotten first encounter, things start up on an awkward base between the two, and San can't stand the boy's presence. But only fools don't change their minds.

**Warnings: **May contain some OOCness and a few crude words due to the context of the story.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Princess Mononoke_ (_Mononoke Hime_) and other characters used in this story. They are owned by Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki. All the copyrights associated with _Princess Mononoke_ and other Ghibli movies belong to them. No profit is being earned by the writer of this story.

This fanfiction was inspired by fanarts and fancomics seen on Pixiv and, featuring some of the Ghibli characters in Highschool and, for most of them, centering on San and Ashitaka. I thought it'd be fun to see where I could take this.

I'm not very comfortable with OCs, so I decided to use characters from other Ghibli movies as minor characters in this story. Not sure if I should post this in crossover, since it's more of a "Ghibli highschool AU centering on the Princess Mononoke cast" kind of fic. I'll change it if it bothers anyone, or at least, more than just one person.

Moro and her sons have human forms in this story to make things easier. I decided to name the brothers Ichi and Ni after reading Ceze ar Qoga's fanfic, '_Densetsu no Mononoke'_. (You guys should read it, it's marvelous).

Before the story starts, I'd just like to specify that this follows the Japanese educational system. In Japan, school starts on April 1st, and not September, and is interrupted by the Summer holidays. I hope you will enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. The first chapter is told from San's point of view.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

Dammit, she was late. Again. San let out an annoyed groan. It was the first day of school after the summer holidays and she was already running late. Eboshi would surely take the chance too make a snarky remark about it. Oh, how she hated that woman. She hated her for constantly comparing her to a princess and calling her that. If she hadn't been a member of the teaching staff, San would have probably punched the living daylight out of the wench—or slit her throat, she'd have to meditate on which was best.

She took a hasty cold shower and got dressed as quickly as she could. In her constant running between her room and the bathroom, she nearly tripped. Twice. Ugh, today was not her day! Dressed, her usual jewelry and war-like facial paint on, San literally jumped down the stairs and rushed into the kitchen. Moro, who was sitting at the table, enjoying a cup of coffee in her bathrobe, lifted her head up as her daughter entered the kitchen.

"Mother! Why didn't you wake me up!" San wailed as she shoved the fridge open and grabbed her bento. Moro smirked at her daughter's urgency.

"Good morning to you too, San." She watched San as she thrusted some bred into the toaster.

"Mother, I'm serious! You should have woken me up!"

"Heh. You're big girl, aren't you? You should be able to wake up on your own by now." The woman answered simply, taking a sip of her coffee.

San didn't bother answering. She sticked the toast in her mouth and hurriedly flung her bento into her schoolbag. "Good bye, Mother. I'm leaving." She announced as she ran outside the kitchen.

"Have a nice day," Moro sang out still seated. "And say hello to that wench-teacher of yours." San couldn't help but grin at her mother's comment.

"I'll be sure to do so!"

One of her brothers, Ichi, was waiting for her outside. The other must've ran off, tired of waiting for his little sister.

"Well, you sure took your time." He said in annoyance. San grumbled an apology as he turned into his wolf form.

She jumped onto his back and they were off. As they ran towards the highschool, San realized that taking the regular road wasn't a good idea. She'd be late for sure. "Brother. Turn right. We're taking a shortcut." She told Ichi. He let out a small 'tch!' but obeyed nonetheless, leaping down a hill leading to a road further down. What San hadn't expected, however, was to have someone—and ridding an elk of all things—jump straight in her way. Before she could even do anything, it was already too late.

_**WHAM**_

San laid on the floor, clutching her head. She sat up and glared at the person she'd just ran into. It was a boy, about her age with slightly long brown hair—barely shorter than hers. The blow seemed to have done more damage to him than to her. His forehead had taken a bright red tint due to the hit, and he was still laying on the floor, holding his head, teeth clenched tightly. His red elk was leaning down towards him in what she guessed was worry. San stomped onto her feet and glared at him some more. The boy sat up and, letting out a pained groan, he finally looked up to her.

Stunning grey eyes_…_ That was the first thing she noticed. San suddenly felt a surge of furry flow through her body. She let out a wolf-like growl.

"YOU IDIOT! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!" San felt a bit silly for what she said—or rather yelled. It was her fault. He had been taking the average road. She was the one who had barged onto him like a Jack-in-the-box. But she'd be damned if she ever admitted it. She felt oddly satisfied when she saw him flinch, confusion and surprise written all over his face.

He blinked at her. "S-sorry?" He let out, obviously unsure of what else to say.

San huffed at him and jumped back onto her brother, who was snickering at the scene. She'd just wasted some precious time. "Let's go." She ordered the wolf. And with that they were off, leaving the other sitting on the pavement. She just hoped she could still get to school on time.

* * *

><p>San rushed into the classroom just as the bell rang. She couldn't believe she managed to get there on time.<p>

"San!" Hearing her name, the girl turned her head to the side and saw a red-haired girl waving at her. San let out a relieved sigh.

"Nausicäa… So glad to see you again." Nausicäa was probably the only person San could call a friend. The wolf girl suspected it might have something to do with how comfortable the red-head was with animals. San was a bit of a wild girl, who acted more like a wolf than a human at some occasions. She was more at ease with animals than with humans, and that was probably why she felt so comfortable with Nausicäa. Just as she'd manage to tame her pet squirrel-fox, Teto—which she wasn't allowed to take to school, sadly—using only reassuring words and kindness, the red-head had managed to befriend the wild wolf girl no one dared talk to.

"Aaw~ So you missed me too?" The girl said in a slightly teasing tone. Both girls grinned at each other, silently showing just how happy they were to be reunited. "How was your summer?" Nausicäa asked eagerly.

"Too short!" San wailed. "Oh, and we visited the Yakushima forests." The wolf girl grinned as her friends face brightened in excitement.

"Really! Did you take pictures? Please tell me you took pictures. Do you have spare copies? Could you bring them? Please?" So much enthusiasm. San couldn't help but chuckle at her friend.

"Yes! Yes! Calm down! I'll bring you some copies as soon as I can–"

"Alright, everyone, take your seats." San's mood dropped considerably when she heard the seemingly calm voice cut their conversation. Eboshi… She hated that woman. She really did. Nonetheless, she obeyed and parted with her friend to sit at her desk in the second row. Eboshi noticed her and a smirk graced her features at the girl's presence._'Ah! I see you decided to grace us with your presence quite early this time, Princess Mononoke.' _was what San half expected her to say. That or some snarky remark about her waking up early from her beauty sleep. However, Eboshi said nothing. She simply waited for everyone to be seated.

"Alright class, first of all, I'd like to welcome you all back," she said in that annoyingly kind tone of hers. "I hope you all had a splendid holiday, and took some good, well-earned rest. Now, today is going to be quite an eventful day, as we'll be accepting a transferred student."

San blinked at the news. A transferred student? Now? They'd already started school months ago, why come so late? She noted she wasn't the only one surprised, as whispers and mummers started filling the classroom.

"Everyone! Please, settle down," Eboshi let out making the low voices die out. "Now, he's come from quite far, so I'd like you all to give him a very warm welcome." He? So it was a guy, then. Eboshi turned towards the door. "You may come in now."

When the door slid open, San felt her heart skip a beat. It was him! It was the guy she ran into this morning. _The one with the pretty eyes_. She mentally slapped herself for that last thought. If she hadn't been so shocked to see him, she probably would have jumped off her seat and yelled out "IT'S YOU!", pointing an accusing finger at the boy. As he walked to the teacher's desk, giggles from a few girls could be heard. It only served to kick back San's irritability. She growled under her breath.

The boy bowed in front of the class. "Good morning. My name is Ashitaka Emishi. I am honored to meet you and hope we will be able to get along." San felt her eye twitch. This guy was way too polite. It unnerved her. The other students, however, seemed quite pleased. Especially the girls.

"Thank you very much, Ashitaka," Eboshi said once he was done. "You may take a seat." And she pointed out to the only empty seat in the classroom. Which was situated right at San's left. Only at that moment, did he notice her presence. Only at that moment, did she realize what her teacher had just said.

"WHAT?" San had jumped off her seat, startling everyone—except, of course, for the wench. Had she been less irritated, San would have probably felt embarrassed about her outburst. Eboshi sighed at the girl's reaction, with that particular exasperated tone she only used for San.

"Do you have something to say, Princess?" She said. San opened her mouth before closing it again, realizing she had indeed nothing to say. She couldn't possibly invoke what had happened on the way to school. She would make a complete fool out of herself if she did. So, without further to do, she slumped back onto her chair, muttering a small "Nothing." in response to her irritating teacher. Satisfied by San's behavior, Eboshi invited Ashitaka to take the empty seat next to the girl. He seemed a bit hesitant, but complied.

Through the whole hour, San refused to make any eye contact with the boy. Thankfully, he didn't try to talk to her—something which she was secretly grateful for. She did however notice, out of the corner of her eye, that he kept taking a few quick glances towards her from time to time.

As the bell rang, Eboshi had barely left the classroom, a herd of girls were already surrounding the new boy, flooding him with streams of questions.

"Where are you from?"

"Did you arrive here recently?"

"How do you like it here?"

"Do you need anyone to give you a tour around the school?"

San gritted her teeth. Annoying, they were all annoying. She just wished they'd shut up already. Why in the world were they all interested in him anyway? Sure he was new, but that was no reason to pounce on him like he was the latest pop star idol.

_He does look quite handsome, though_…

San nearly chocked at her thought. What the hell? Where in the world did that come from! She decided she really didn't like this guy. Not one bit. Luckily, the English teacher, Mr Kusakabe, arrived relatively quickly, urging everyone to get to their seats.

Lunch arrived slowly for the girl and the first thing San wanted to do was run off to the roof to eat her bento. More girls had gathered around Ashitaka, much to her annoyance. She grabbed her bento and walked up to Nausicäa's desk.

"Nausicäa, would you mind eating lunch on the roof with me?" She let out quickly. The red-head blinked at her in mild surprise.

"Uh, sure, no problem."

San had always enjoyed eating lunch on the roof. Most people stayed in their classrooms for lunch, so it wasn't very crowded up there. It was a nice calm spot, perfect for enjoying a delicious bento. As much as she enjoyed the peace and quiet of the place, San preferred eating in Nausicäa's company. Although she'd never admit it, San was a relatively lonely person.

"Sooooo…" San turned towards her friend, snapping out of her thoughts, as they walked to the roof. "About the new guy, Ashitaka…" The brunette frowned at this.

"What about him?" She all but groaned. Nausicäa sent her a 'girl-you-know-what-I-mean' kind of look.

"Your reaction… It was kind of excessive." San felt her cheeks color up.

"Yeah, well, whatever. I don't like that guy, that's all." She didn't want to talk about it. Nausicäa, on the other hand, seemed inclined in getting more information.

"And may I ask why?" She asked in barely concealed amusement as they finally reached the top.

"Because." San blurted out before she could really stop herself.

"Because?" Nausicäa repeated with a smile.

"Because I just don't!" San pressed her back to the wall and let herself slid down into a sitting position, legs crossed, an irritated pout on her face. Nausicäa chuckled at her friends behavior and sat down next to her.

"Sorry San, I just wanted to know why you reacted like that," she said with a smile. "But if you're not comfortable with this, we can stop talking about it." San couldn't help but smile. Nausicäa was such a sweet person.

"It's okay. I'm sorry if I overreacted." Both girls smiled at one another. They were startled by the sound of the door to the roof being opened.

For the love of–Him again! Was he following her or something? San glared at Ashitaka as he closed the door behind him before pressing his back onto it and letting out an exhausted sigh. Obviously he hadn't noticed the girls' presence on the roof.

"Oh, well, look who's there!" San cringed at Nausicäa's cheerful exclamation. Did she really have to inform him of their being there? Ashitaka was clearly surprised to see he wasn't alone. "Running away from your groupies?"

The boy eased up and smiled at her. "Well, they were slightly invading."

"That just means they like you," she chirped back. Ashitaka chuckled at this and San felt the sudden urge to kick him in the face. "The name's Nausicäa, by the way."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." He bowed his head respectfully. Nausicäa couldn't help but grin at his politeness. San snorted, reminding the two of her presence.

"Oh, and this is San." The wolf girl's head spun towards her friend in outrage.

"Nausicäa!" She hissed.

"What? He seats next to you in class, he would've learned your name anyway." The red-head said a matter-of-factly. San mumbled under her breath.

"San." Both girls turned towards Ashitaka as they heard him speak. It was almost a whisper, as if he was tasting the name on his tongue. San felt something flutter in her guts at this. He smiled at her. "I'm sorry for what happened this morning and hope you can forgive me for it."

San felt a blush creep on her cheeks. Wh-why was she blushing? She huffed at him and spun her head towards the opposite direction. Nausicäa looked from her to the boy in confusion.

"Uh, excuse me. Could I get an update on what's going on here, please?" Ashitaka glanced at San, probably asking the girl for her consent, but she refused to look at him.

"We bumped into each other this morning." He answered simply.

"Really?" She let out. She frowned and turned towards her friend. "San, don't tell me this is why you're so angry against Ashitaka." San said nothing. Nausicäa sighed at her friend. She suddenly turned towards Ashitaka, flashing him a bright smile. "Would you like to join us?" San gave her another, unnoticed, outraged look. Ashitaka answered to her smile with one of his own.

"I'd very much like to, but I left my lunch in class."

"Oh, that's okay. I'll go get it for you!" With that, Nausicäa jumped to her feet, putting her bento down. Ashitaka was taken aback by her proposition.

"Ah, no it's fine. I can get it mysel–" He was cut by the red-head walking up behind him and pushing him towards San.

"No, no, I'll get it! I insist!" She made him sit at her spot next to her friend, making the later scoot away slightly. "You stay here. I'll be back real soon! You guys just get your differences sorted up." And with that she left, leaving a gaping San and an unsure Ashitaka behind.

A tense silence settled between the two as San refused to look at the boy sitting next to her, frowning angrily and munching on her food furiously. Why did he have to come here? Why did Nausicäa have to invite him to join them? Why did she have to go off and get his stupid lunch for him? Why did she have to leave them alone together? Oh, that girl. Sometimes San wondered what crossed her friend's head.

"San." She fought the urge to spin her head around remembering she had decided to ignore him. Why did Nausicäa have to tell him her name? "Are you really acting this way because of our encounter?" San ignored him. _Keep chewing. Keep chewing_. "I apologize." Again? Why did he keep doing that?

"I'm not angry at you for that." San immediately regretted saying that. Ugh, why did she have to speak without thinking first! Now he was going to get weird ideas.

"Then what are you angry about?" He asked after a few seconds, in a calm tone. San wanted to ignore him but apparently her impulsive side had decided otherwise.

"Nothing! I just don't like you!" She yelled back at him, facing him this time, bearing her teeth, overwhelmed with a furry she could barely comprehend. Ashitaka said nothing. He stared back at her silently, his features calm and soft. San found herself calming down as she looked into those amazing grey eyes. The two of them just sat there, staring at each other until San looked away. _Why is he so calm…?_

"Why shouldn't I be calm?" San's head snapped back at him in surprise.

"How did you…" She trailed off as the terrifying thought of him reading minds came tickling her imagination. He blinked at her and seemed to realize something.

"Oh, I'm sorry, you said that out loud." She did? And she didn't even realize it? San felt her cheeks coloring again. She looked away, not wanting him to see her blush—although she was pretty sure he saw it.

"Yeah, well, whatever!" She let out angrily. This guy was so annoying.

"I really wish we could start off on a new base." San felt her anger leave her suddenly. She looked back at the boy. He was looking straight ahead, toward the roof guardrail."Your friend, Nausicäa, seemed like a very kind person. And if you're friends with her," He turned back towards her, flashing her a sincere smile."–then you must be a very kind person as well." San felt her heart skip a beat again. He'd only just met her, in probably the worst way ever, she had spent most of the time trying to ignore him and growling at him, and he–he was sure she was a kind person. That was… so… sweet… She felt touched.

"Ashitaka…" She breathed out, all anger forgotten. Maybe… she should give him a chance. A sudden banging noise made them jump and a figure appeared unceremoniously on the roof.

"NAUSICÄA! Are you the–" The person stopped as they noticed the two others. San immediately recognized the brown-haired-aviator-hat–wearing boy.

"A-Asbel?" He was Nausicäa's boyfriend, one of the rare guys San actually spoke to\—though, he wasn't in their class. Asbel was a nice guy. A bit too cheerful sometimes—she suspected he was the reason why Nausicäa tended to be so lively from time to time. He blinked at her.

"Uh, hey San. I was just… looking for Nausicäa…" he seemed unsure. "Am I… bothering you two?" And for what seemed like the millionth time that day, San blushed.

"W-WHAT?" She stammered. Asbel took a step back at her outburst.

"Ah, sorry, sorry!" he said with a sheepish grin. "I'll leave you guys alone. It's great you finally managed to find yourself a boyfriend!" _Boyfriend…? Boyfriend? **Boyfriend?**_San lost any compassion she had towards Ashitaka.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS? YOU CAN'T POSSIBLY THINK THAT ME A–A–AND HIM–YOU–HE–I–" San was stammering and struggling with words. He thought they were... He thought they were... She snapped, cried out in furry—and maybe embarrassment?—and did the next thing her instinct dictated her to do: jump off the roof. She grabbed her bento, jumped to her feet, ran to the the guardrail and jumped over it… landing on a tree branch below and climbing down acrobatically, before bolting back to her classroom.

Things went downhill from there. San spent the rest of the day ignoring Ashitaka, and when she wasn't, she glared daggers at him, showing off her murderous intent. The atmosphere was so tense around the two, no one dared walk up to them. Poor Nausicäa felt completely guilty. It made San feel bad, but it wasn't enough to stop her anger. Him. And her. That was so ridiculous!

_It could be nice, though…_

Wh–No, it couldn't! She hated him!

_But he's so sweet…_

No, he's wasn't! She hated him!

_But he seems to like you…_

San let out a furious cry, scaring the wits out of everyone, before flipping her table in an animal-like rage fit. She got kicked out of class and stayed in the hallway, cursing and growling, for the rest of the hour. She hated him. She hated him more than she hated Gonza—the sports teacher—, more than she hated those idiotic girls cackling behind her back, more than she hated that stupid Eboshi-wench!

The last bell came out as a relief. She stormed out of the classroom, not even saying goodbye to her friend—she would call her later to apologize—and headed straight for the school entrance. She hoped at least one of her brothers would have the decency of waiting for her.

As she walked in front of the specially modified bike sheds—the school had to readapt them because some students came up there with all sorts of weird engines—, she noticed a familiar figure, standing under one of them. It was that red elk from this morning. '_Ashitaka's elk_.' She thought. She hadn't realized she was walking towards it until just a few feet separated them. It stared at her and she stared back. She felt herself relax, just like during the lunch break on the roof, with Ashitaka. '_Apparently it's something they have in common_._'_ She smiled at the thought.

"What are you doing?" San jumped. Wh-How had she not heard or even sensed anyone coming her way? Damn Ashitaka, polluting her mind. She turned and was relieved to see it was just her brothers.

"You guys… Don't sneak up on me like that!" The twins raised their eyebrow simultaneously before exchanging glances.

"San…" started Ichi. "We called you out at least four times before getting here…" San stared at him before her faced crunched into an embarrassed grimace.

"Whatever…" She grumbled.

"Isn't that the elk from this morning?" He said pointing at it.

"Ah, the one you two bumped into?" Ni inquired. "What is it doing here?"

"It's owner is probably a student here." His brother answered back.

"Can we just go home already!" San snapped at the mention of Ashitaka. It earned her questioning gazes from her two brothers. "I had a bad day." She said defensively.

"You didn't seem that troubled while you were staring at that elk." Ichi stated with a smirk.

"Eh, think she might have a crush on it's owner?" Ni suggested, smirking back at his brother. San felt all the anger she had built up that day boil back up into her.

"SHUT IT YOU TWO! IF YOU DON'T WANT TO CARRY ME HOME, THEN FINE! I'LL GO BACK ON MY OWN!" The twins jolted backwards at their sister's sudden burst of rage and irritation. If they weren't so used to those, they would've probably regretted teasing her. But they knew her since they were only pups. Even if their eardrums sometimes had to pay the price, they never regretted teasing her. Ever. San had started stumping away, cussing and grumbling under her breath.

"Obviously she doesn't like that guy, whoever he is." Ichi informed his brother.

"That's more than not liking." Ni answered back. "She hates him." They said in union.

"Are guys coming or not!" San yelled from afar. "And I can still hear you!" The two snickered, taking their wolf form and running up to San, who climbed onto Ichi's back.

* * *

><p>Moro was cooking when her children arrived home.<p>

"How was your day?" She asked, eyes fixed on what she was doing.

"Terrible…" San sighed out.

"Pretty good, actually." The twins said in union, earning a glare from their little sister.

"I'm going to my room." She grumbled stomping up the stairs, not even stopping when she heard her mother call after her. She slammed the door behind her and jumped face first onto her bed. Today was so messed up. Her anger had died out and know she felt exhausted and guilty. She curled up into a ball.

Why was she reacting this way? Ashitaka didn't seem like a bad guy—it was rather the opposite actually—and he wanted them to be friends. So why did she feel so angry towards him? It wasn't because of their encounter, was it? Was she really mad at him for bumping into her—or rather, she bumped into him—that morning? That would be stupid. All this fuss, yelling at him, making Nausicäa feel guilty, just for something so… futile? It was stupid. _She_ was stupid.

"I'm such an idiot…" She sighed to herself.

"Well, you're the one who said it." San jumped out of her skin, falling off her bed. She groaned in pain before glaring at the intruder.

"Ni! Why do you always do that! Can't you knock!" She yelled at her brother.

"I did."

"Ugh! Whatever! What do you want?" He handed her the large portable house-phone.

"For you. It's Nausicäa." San's eyes widened and she immediately brought the phone to her ear.

"Hello?"

_"Hey, San. Uh, I just wanted to say I'm really sor–"_

"Nausicäa I'm so sorry for what happened I never should've acted like that you have no idea how bad I feel and and and I'm really sorry I ran off like that and–"

_"San, San, it's okay! Don't worry! And I should be the one apologizing, I shouldn't have left you too alone."_ San could tell Nausicäa was smiling, probably touched by her friend's nervous rambling.

"It's okay. I don't blame you for anything." She said softly, pushing her back onto the bed behind her and bringing her knees to her chest. She took a quick glance towards the door and saw Ni had left.

_"…Did things really go that bad between you two?"_ Nausicäa asked tentatively. San bit her lip. She wanted to tell her what happened on the rooftop, but at the same time, she didn't. _Ugh! This is so stupid! This guy is messing up my head!_

_"…He is?" _Came Nausicäa's slightly amused question. San stayed there for a while, wondering what her friend meant by that, when realization finally hit her.

"I did not just say that out loud, did I…?"

_"Would it make you feel better if I lied and said you didn't?"_ San felt her face flush.

"Why do I keep doing that?" She whimpered.

_"Oh, you've done that more than once?"_

"Yeah, while I was on the roof with Ashitaka." San realized a bit too late what she had just admitted.

_"Really, now?"_ Nausicäa all but purred.

"Can we talk about something else?"

_"Nah, I kind of like where this is going."_

"You're such a great friend, Nausicäa." San said sarcastically.

_"Yeah, I know, blows me off too sometimes." _San couldn't help but roll her eyes. _"Seriously, though, what happened up there? You guys were kind of supposed to make up, remember?" _San sighed. Obviously she wouldn't be able to cower out of this one. Nausicäa would make sure she didn't. That was so like her. Making San admit things she wouldn't even dare tell her mother, and making her feel better about it afterwards.

"I don't know. One minute I'm thinking he might not be so bad after all, and the next I want to strangle him and throw his body off a cliff."

_"Asbel told me you actually jumped off the roof."_ San let out a grunt. _"He asked me to tell you he's really sorry for making you angry and making the wrong assumption."_San got off the floor and let herself fall onto her mattress, the phone still on her ear. She laid there for a few seconds, staring at the ceiling, until she heard Nausicäa ask if she was still there.

"Nausicäa… Would you think I'm a nice person if all I did was ignore you or glare at you?"

She knew it was a stupid question, especially since it was Nausicäa she was talking to—the girl who never judged anyone by the way they acted and always found good in people—, but San couldn't help herself from asking. It really confused her. She had acted like a total jerk and he had said she seemed 'nice'. She had found it sweet back then, but now she wondered if he wasn't an idiot. Who in their right mind would say that? He probably didn't think that anymore, with the way she acted afterwards.

_"Did something happen?"_ The red-head asked after a short silence. Of course she would ask that. It was only natural. She knew San was referring to Ashitaka.

"…He said he wanted us to start off on a new base." San said almost absent-mindedly.

_"How about you? Would you like that?"_ Nausicäa asked her friend. San didn't know what to say. She wasn't sure of anything. After all she'd done, wasn't it a bit late? She felt dizzy from all the thoughts running around inside her head. San started realizing just how tired she was.

"So sleepy…" She whined. Nausicäa laughed at the other side of the line.

_"Way to ruin the atmosphere, San."_ San smiled at this.

"Sorry. I'm just really tired."

_"You should do your homework before going to bed."_

"Screw the homework." San let out, sleepily throwing her fist in the air.

_"Okay, but don't you come running up to me when the teachers start lecturing you about it!"_

* * *

><p>"San!" Moro called out for what seemed like a the tenth time in less than three minutes. "San! Dinner!" Still no answer. She frowned. It had been more than an hour since Ni had brought up the phone for his sister. Now, Moro knew very well how much time teenage girls could spend on the phone, but San always felt awkward when speaking through one. Even with her friend Nausicäa, the longest conversations rarely lasted more than twenty minutes. Her daughter preferred real contact.<p>

It puzzled her. Maybe she should check on San. She climbed up the stairs and slowly opened the door to her younger offspring's room. San was curled up under her blanket in deep slumber. Moro's features softened at the sight. Her poor little pup. She must've been exhausted if she went to bed without dinner. Moro spotted the phone laying on the ground next to the bed. She slowly walked in and picked it up, before turning to her sleeping daughter and placing a soft kiss onto the girl's cheek.

"Goodnight my child. Sweet dreams." She whispered softly. Turning off the lights, she left the room, making sure to close the door as quietly as possible.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes: <strong>And I officially do not know how to end a chapter… I hope you'll forgive me for that.

I'm not sure if I got everyone's personality right, especially Ashitaka's. I watched '_Princess Mononoke_' in french and I remember him being excessively polite. I'm not sure if it was there in the english dub.

So yes, I used Nausicäa, from '_Nausicäa of the valley of the wind_', instead of an OC. I know she's not technically from Ghibli, but she's Hayao Miyazaki's so it's still okay. Right? Asbel is also from the same manga/movie (Depending on which you read/saw). I only saw the movie, so to others who read the manga, their personalities might seem a bit off. I also used Mr Kusakabe as the English teacher. He's Satsuki and Mei's father, from '_My neighbor Totoro_'. The rest of the characters that are alluded to are all from '_Princess Mononoke_'.

The chapter changed a bit from what I had originally planned. The twins weren't supposed to have human forms, but then I thought it'd be for the best if they did. The ending conversation with Nausicäa was a bit shorter in the original 'manuscript'.

If there are any mistakes, grammar errors or such, feel free to point them out. Constructive criticism is very much appreciated. I write a lot, but this is the first time I've ever posted anything, mostly because I'm not always happy with what I write, or because I chicken out at the last minute and end up not finishing a story because I have no real reason to. Any advice, ideas or just comment on the story or my writing is very much welcomed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: **We all fall in love one day, Princess

**Rating: **K +

**Summary:** [Highschool AU] San literally bumps into Ashitaka, the new transferred student in Iron High. After such a rotten first encounter, things start up on an awkward base between the two, and San can't stand the boy's presence. But only fools don't change their minds.

**Warnings: **May contain some OOCness and a few crude words due to the context of the story.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Princess Mononoke_ (_Mononoke Hime_) and other characters used in this story. They are owned by Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki. All the copyrights associated with Princess Mononoke and other Ghibli movies belong to them. No profit is being earned by the writer of this story.

And here's Chapter 2! This took waaaaaay longer than it should have, sorry. It was harder to write than the first one, and I actually started it all over again because I wasn't happy with the first version of it. And it didn't help that I was constantly changing parts of it and had to reread it a thousand times to be sure I wrote everything correctly—I'm still not sure about that, actually...

I didn't get any complaints so I assumed everyone was okay with this being in the "Normal" section. Thank you for your kind reviews! I'm glad some of you like the story so far.

Also, after doing some research—that I probably should've done earlier, shame on me—, I learned that afternoon classes in Japan are actually devoted to cultural and sportive activities. So the end of Chapter 1 is actually slightly inaccurate. Sorry for that. I won't change it though, because San flipping a table is too hilarious in my head.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

"San!"

_Ugh… Leave me alone… I'm tired…_

"San!"

_Go away…_

"SAN!"

San jolted upwards as her mother barged into her room unceremoniously. Her fuzzy mind, still clouded with sleep, barely registered what was going as Moro began yelling at her furiously.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, SLEEPING LIKE A PIG IN A HOT TUBE! YOU'RE LATE FOR SCHOOL!" The words echoed in San's head, three or four times before she finally registered what her mother had just said.

* * *

><p>As expected, she was late. More than she'd ever been, actually. Ichi and Ni having gone without her—those jerks! They would pay…—, and her mother having refused to take her to school, as a punishment for not waking up, San had ran like the wind in a futile attempt to make it on time. She had burst in her class, startling everyone—it seemed it was now a new hobby of hers—panting out an apology, to which the teacher—who was luckily <strong>not<strong> Eboshi—had simply answered by a slightly shaken "Alright, sit down". If she'd been worrying about not getting everyone's attention, she could feel pretty relieved now. It didn't help that, in her race against time, she hadn't had any breakfast. And she couldn't remember if she'd taken her bento or not. _Today… Is going to be the worse day ever…_

San's assumptions soon proved to be correct. Practically every teacher who had given them homework had decided to ask her to read out what she had—or rather not—done, leading to her getting scolded in front of the whole class… Twice. And just to add insult to injury, Eboshi had decided to give them a project to work on in pairs. The project itself wasn't immensely terrible—Muromachi period was pretty interesting, actually—, but the wench had decided she would be the one making up the teams, and that god forsaken woman had decided to pair her up with Ashitaka. Of all the thirty-one students that made up her class, why did she have to choose him!

When lunch finally reared it's head, San was delighted to find out she had indeed forgotten her bento. Which meant she had to go get herself something to eat. She thought for a bit and remembered she hadn't brought any money with her. Curse everything! Curse this school! Curse her stupid self for oversleeping! And curse Ashitaka, for good measures! She banged her head onto her desk and stayed there, drowning in her misery. At least those stupid girls had for once figured out, seeing how infuriated the wolf girl was, that coming near Ashitaka was not a good idea.

"San, are you okay?" Came Nausicäa's half-worried, half-amused question. The wolf girl groaned. "Stupid question, I guess." San lifted her head up.

"Nausicäa… I think the gods hate me..."

"No, they don't. They just find the sight of your tortured soul fairly amusing." San let her head fall back onto the desk.

"I forgot my bento…"

"You too?" San lifted her head back up and send her friend a questioning gaze.

"Me too?"

"Asbel forgot his too… I was going to meet up with him in his classroom so we could share mine, and came to tell you." Nausicäa said all of this in a small voice, as if she was scared San might snap. Not that her fears were unfounded… San sighed.

"Tell him, I hate him." Nausicäa chuckled lightly. She thought for a bit before turning towards Ashitaka, who was taking out his own bento.

"Ashitaka, wanna join us for lunch?" San sent her a dejected look, while the boy blinked at her. "Asbel said he wanted to get to know you better. And that way, you can share your bento with San." The brunette girl jumped off her seat at this.

"WHAT! NO!" Ashitaka winced a bit at her outburst and Nausicäa sighed at her friend.

"Okay, then, let me rephrase that: And that way, you can share your bento with Asbel, while I share mine with San." She sent her friend an expecting look. "Better?"

"No." San said stubbornly. "I'm not going." Her stomach decided to protest with the loudest rumble it could master. Nausicäa quirked her eyebrow at this.

"You sure about that?" San's cheek reddened.

"Okay, fine! I'm coming!" She let out, throwing her arms out in aggravation. Nausicäa grinned victoriously before turning towards Ashitaka.

"All set, then?" He seemed to hesitate for a few seconds, before finally answering.

"I have something I need to do first." San frowned at him curiously.

The girls ended up following him. Nausicäa had insisted on it, saying that, that way, they'd go directly to Asbel's class afterwards. Ashitaka had taken a small paper bag with him. San first assumed he had something to deliver to someone, but as they started walking towards the school entrance, she finally realized what he was going to do. As she'd expected, they arrived at the bicycle sheds. Nausicäa gasped at the sight of the red elk.

"Is that…?" She trailed off, eyes glistering in amazement. "Do you actually come here ridding on his back?" Ashitaka smiled and nodded.

"His name is Yakul," he said scratching his mount's muzzle. "I was able to bring him here from my hometown." He opened the paper bag and scooped some food, presenting it to Yakul, who leaned his head and munched into the boy's hand. San felt ticked off all of a sudden.

"Why didn't you leave him there?" Her question came out more like a cold accusation. Ashitaka turned to face her. "He doesn't belong here. You should have left him where he could run around freely!" How selfish! Bringing such a beautiful creature in a place as rotten as Tatara city, only to use him as a mount and parade around like a senseless show-off.

"San… " She could hear the silent plea in Nausicäa's voice, but she didn't care. He'd better have some good arguments to explain himself, or she would punch the living daylights out of him. For a while he just stood there. A sad smile slowly appeared on his face and he turned towards Yakul.

"You're probably right." Ha! At least he had the honesty of admitting how stupid that was of him. "But Yakul wouldn't leave my side when he realized it was time for us to part. And frankly, I didn't want to leave him behind either." San was taken aback by those words. She stared at the two as Ashitaka continued to hand feed Yakul. Something steered inside of her. Guilt? Tch! Why should she feel guilty at having voiced out her opinion? It was probably just anger. She glared at her feet and saw Nausicäa give her a worried look from the corner of her eye. _Stupid Ashitaka…_

The walk towards Asbel's classroom was relatively tense, San frowning angrily the whole time, Nausicäa feeling a bit nervous between the two, and Ashitaka being… astonishingly calm. Seriously, what was with this guy and always being calm? It was annoying. He was annoying.

"NAUSICÄA!" San was startled out of her negative thoughts by Asbel's enthusiastic cry. Nausicäa sighed of contempt, probably glad her boyfriend had finally broken the tension of the atmosphere.

"Hey, Asbel. Sorry we took so much–Eep!" She was cut in her sentence by the boy grabbing her by the waist and swiftly scooping her off her feet before making her spin in the air, like she weighed absolutely nothing, making her laugh delightfully and providing everyone with the most syrupy sight of all. This made San sigh, though she had to admit all anger was forgotten thanks to the their cute little couple scene.

"Look at those two, being all mushy." She said with a small smirk.

"You can't blame them for being in love." San hadn't expected Ashitaka to reply. She glared at him.

"I was talking to myself." He smiled at her.

"I know." San felt her cheeks heat up slowly. Why. Did she keep. Blushing! She huffed at him. Asbel finally put Nausicäa down. She was still laughing from all the spinning, and clutched onto him to avoid tripping from her dizziness. Asbel grinned widely at the two brunettes.

"Isn't her laugh wonderful?" He said in an almost lovestruck tone. This only served to fuel Nausicäa's laughter, her cheeks taking a reddish tint. "Look how marvelous it sounds!"

"Asbel, you look like an idiot with that goofy grin of yours." San pointed out.

"You're just jealous of my undying love for life." He replied. San rolled her eyes at this.

"Asbel, about lunch," Nausicäa managed to breath out, "I'm sharing my bento with San, she forgot hers." The boy's grin disappeared in an instant.

"What!" he let out in disbelief, "B-but how am I suppose to eat then?"

"Ashitaka's going to share his with you." Asbel opened his mouth, before closing it, and opening it, and closing it again.

"Why can't he share it with San instead?" San's eye twitched. Did he really just ask that? Nausicäa sighed at her boyfriend's behavior.

"Asbel…"

"I was really looking forward to this!" he whined, "San, why won't you eat with Ashitaka?" Did he really just ask that… Again? Nausicäa looked quickly towards her friend and back to him.

"Asbel, please…"

"At least give me a valid argument!" San was about to throw out a not-so-calm comment, when her stomach decided this was it's cue to remind everyone of it's existence. There was a long silence between the four of them. "Okay, I guess that could be considered a valid argument." Asbel said in dead-serious tone. San felt her face burning up. She saw Nausicäa trying hard not to burst out laughing while Asbel grinned widely at her. She turned towards Ashitaka. He was averting her gaze, but she could see the wide smile on his face, even with his hand on his mouth. She growled under her breath. What a stupid, stupid day...

They walked to the roof, San grumbling and cussing under her breath the whole time. She was at least consoled by the fact Nausicäa's bento was relatively tasty. The red-head had probably made it herself. Nausicäa always had a second pair of chopsticks with her. She lend them to Asbel, who had started worrying about having to eat with the same chopsticks as Ashitaka. San had snickered at this, a wide sneer on her face, making Nausicäa laugh and embarrassing the boys—or at least, Asbel. She couldn't really tell if Ashitaka was embarrassed or just amused.

"This is really good," Asbel sighed in contentment as he ate. "You should really praise your mother for this."

"My parents are actually still in my hometown." Asbel blinked at the brunette boy's words.

"Then who made this?" His eyes widened suddenly and he gasped loudly. "YOU?" Ashitaka coughed out a small laughter at the other's reaction.

"No. At least, not today. It was my sister's turn to cook."

"You have a sister?" San let out before she could really stop herself. Crap. Now it looked as if she was interested in his stupid life. Asbel let out a theatrical gasp.

"San! Did you just speak to Ashitaka?" He said in feigned shock. San merely huffed at him.

"Asbel, leave her alone," Nausicäa said in amusement, "So, you have a sister, then." Ashitaka nodded.

"Her name is Kaya. She was a bit upset about leaving home, but now she really enjoys her new school."

"_Her_ new school?" Asbel inquired, "You mean she's not in Highschool?"

"No. She's in her second year of Junior Highschool. It's not very far from here so I take her there and pick her up in the evening."

"I see…" Nausicäa frowned thoughtfully. "But… if your parents aren't in Tatara, where are you two staying?"

"At a friend's house." He said simply. San blinked before frowning at him. What was with the short reply? He'd just brag along about his sister, and now he was being secretive? She glared suspiciously.

"Say, since you're new here, I'm guessing you probably got a tour around the different school clubs yesterday, right?" Asbel said all of a sudden.

"Ah, yes. The kyudo club seems interesting." Ashitaka said a bit absent-mindedly.

"Kyudo? You mean archery? Wow, you're an archer?" Asbel gasped in disbelief.

"It's sort of a family tradition." Ashitaka replied with a smile. Nausicäa and Asbel let out twin "Aaah!"s at the news, while San rolled her eyes.

"Well, I'm in the mechanic club!" Asbel let out with a grin. "I wanted Nausicäa to join, but she ended up going to the botany club with San." At the mention of her name, San's eye twitched. Did he _have_ to give the guy so much information? She growled under her breath again. Asbel frowned at her. "San, do you really have to act so grumpy?"

"Leave me alone." She snapped. Asbel sighed before turning toward the other boy.

"Don't worry," he told him. "She's not always like this. It's probably just a phase."

San felt her temper boil inside of her and unable to stop herself, she let out the coldest words she'd ever uttered, in a venomous tone that scared even her.

"I never knew hate was a phase."

The silence that followed was suffocating. San suddenly wished she hadn't said that. But what had been done, had been done. '_Never regret. It's useless. Keep your head up and deal with the consequences_.' That's what her mother always said. San always followed Moro's motto. But this time, for some reason, she couldn't possibly do so. How could she? After saying something so utterly odious? She couldn't. So she didn't. She lowered her head and glared at her feet, full of self-loathing and fury. She wanted someone to say something, Asbel to cough out awkwardly like he usually did and change the subject, Nausicäa to say something about San not meaning what she'd said like she usually did… But no one moved. No one spoke. And San just wished she could disappear.

The rest of the day felt heavy to the girl. She hadn't lifted her head to look at anyone, though as she and Nausicäa entered the botany club, her frown slowly turned into a blank stare. Nausicäa hadn't said a word to her. The brunette saw her friend sometimes turning towards her and opening her mouth to say something, before closing it again and going back to whatever she was doing, bitting her lower lip—something she only did when she felt distressed or pained. San felt like a jerk.

"I'm sorry." Nausicäa turned to look at her friend as she all but whispered out her apology. San wasn't looking at her, not wanting to risk herself.

"It's not me you should apologies to." The red-head said calmly, with no trace of anger or accusation. San tensed up a bit before letting her shoulder slouch.

"I can't do it." She looked up to her friend. Nausicäa smiled at her.

"Of course, you can." No, she couldn't. Not after what she'd said. "I'm sure he's not angry at you or anything. But he probably feels a bit hurt. If you don't tell him, it'll just make things harder between you two." San sighed inwardly. Nausicäa was right. The two of them sat next to each other in class and were working partners on a school project. She was going to see him everyday and if she didn't fix what she'd done, it would all end up being a burden for both of them.

"…I'll do it." Nausicäa smiled at her friend and whispered a small 'Good luck.'

The last bell finally rang. San started stressing out as she walked towards where she thought—she'd asked some guy, but she had no proof he was a reliable person—was the archery club. Nausicäa had insisted she should go alone, or else it would seem too forced, but frankly, San really wished she'd accompanied her. At least all the way to club. _Crap. Why am I doing this, again?_

It turned out the guy who'd given her directions was a reliable person after all. She wasn't sure whether to feel happy or not about that. She fidgeted nervously in front of the club entrance. Should she knock, or just go in? No, she should knock. But what would she say? Ugh, she should've thought about it! Maybe she could still coward out of this… No, no, no, no! She said she'd do this! She couldn't back down now! _Just do it, already!_

San squeaked and jumped back as the door was suddenly opened by a club member. He didn't see her, too busy cracking out jokes with a friend. She stood still, petrified as they walked past her, some other boys following suit, noticing her but not really making much of her presence—though she did get a few confused glances. San wondered if she should go in. Yes. No.

"Hey, can I help you?" She snapped out of her thoughts as a rather tall boy—probably a senior—waved his hand in front of her face. She felt her face heat up and her brain started racing, trying to figure out she should do.

"Ashitaka," she blurted out. "I–I'm looking for Ashitaka." The boy blinked at her before letting out a silent 'Ah!'.

"The new kid, right?" A grin slowly started to creep on his face. "Don't worry, I'll get him for ya!" He said in a so-this-is-how-it-is tone. He pocked his head inside the clubroom. "Hey, new kid! Someone for ya! It's a girl~!" A choir of whistles, laughter and witty comments erupted from inside, and San felt herself go pale.

Oh, hell no! Gods! No! Ah! Crap! Wha-Why! There was no way she could possibly face him after this! And apologize, in front of guys she didn't even know, but were probably sure she had a thing for him? No. No, no, no, no, no. San's mind started running faster. What should she do? She couldn't do this! What should she do! _Run! RUN!_ Her instinct screamed. And she did just that. She dashed off before Ashitaka even got to the door, ignoring the 'Hey!' that was thrown after her. She ran and ran and ran, only stopping when she arrived at the school entrance. She panted, still shacking from the rush of adrenaline, before cursing at herself.

"Idiot! Why did you run away!" She stomped her foot angrily. She was so stupid! So stupid! So stupid! A snort-like sound pulled her out of her self-loathing. Just a bit ahead of her, Yakul was staring at her calmly under his bike shed. San felt herself run towards him. She took his head in her hands, letting her school bag fall at her feet, before softly pressing her forehead onto Yakul's.

"Yakul… I said something terrible to your master and I can't bring myself to apologize." She said in a whisper. Yakul let out a soft puff of air.

San felt herself ease up and smiled, closing her eyes. Things were so much easier with animals. Yakul suddenly moved his head out of her grasp and looked up towards the school. While the movement itself had been rather slow, San hadn't expected the warmth to disappear. She looked up towards him before looking in the direction he was facing.

Ashitaka was standing not so far from them. San felt her whole body tense up. For a while, the boy stood there staring at her before starting to walk towards them. San's heart started racing as her mind tried to figure out she should do. She felt the urge to run away, but found she couldn't move. Ashitaka got closer and closer, until just a few feet separated them. San's mind suddenly decided it couldn't help her, so her impulsive side blurted out the first thought it came across.

"Why are you so weird?" Wha–No! She was supposed to be apologizing, not making things worse! "Yesterday you said the cheesiest thing I'd ever heard. How could you think something like that when all I've been doing is being a complete jerk towards you?" Why was she telling him this? San wanted to shut herself up, but the words just spilled out on their own. "I don't get you. I don't understand how the hell your thinking works! How can you–How could you–I–" San squeezed her eyes shut and started clutching her head between her hands, trying to stop the constant flow of thoughts from rushing around. This was all so confusing.

"Is this why you hate me so much?" San's gaze snapped back to Ashitaka as he spoke calmly. "Because I'm confusing you?" San opened her mouth to say something before closing it again. Her face scrunched up into a frown.

"I… don't… know…" She said hesitantly, hating herself for showing so much uncertainty. San never showed this side of her to anyone, except Nausicäa or her mother. She groaned. "I'm not even sure I hate you! I'm just angry! You make me angry!" She exclaimed, maybe a bit too loudly, but she didn't care anymore.

There was a short silence where San felt herself stiffening slowly again. She wanted to scream or at least break something. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly, clutching her fist.

"San…" She felt a shiver run down her spine at how softly he called her name, but refused to ease up. He put his hands on her shoulder gently, as if he was scared she'd break up if he did so too quickly. "San… Look at me…" The tone he used sounded more like he was trying to comfort her, rather than giving her an order. San tentatively opened her eyes and looked into his grey ones. "If my presence bothers you, I won't insist. We don't have to be friends if you're not comfortable with it being that way. We can just be classmates. Just tell me what you want." He said, his expression so calm, yet so serious.

What she wanted? What _did_ she want? Did she want them to be friends or not? She frowned pensively, staring at her feet, before looking back up to the boy.

"I don't know what I want." She said, confusion written all over her face.

Ashitaka blinked at her before a wide smile started forming on his face. He brought a hand to his mouth and lowered his head. San saw his shoulders shaking up and down, and she slowly realized…

"Are you… laughing?" She asked, dumbfounded. She was so taken aback she forgot she should probably be mad at him for that. The boy coughed out a laugh before looking at her, trying to hide his amusement the best he could.

"I'm sorry," he said in a chuckle. "But that was weird." San stared blankly at him. "It seems you're as confusing to me as I am to you." He grinned in an almost sheepish fashion and San couldn't help but think he looked… kind of… cute…

She expected herself to suddenly go into an anger fit at the boy again, like all the other times she'd started getting _girly_ thoughts. But surprisingly, she didn't. Instead, she just grinned back at him. Everything suddenly seemed so silly. She felt like laughing at herself.

"OI! SAN!" The two brunettes jumped at the sudden cry. Ichi and Ni were walking towards them, grinning maliciously. San's eyes narrowed and she let out a wolf-like growl. Ashitaka glanced at her quickly before looking back towards the twins as they got to their level.

"Eh, you two seem to be getting along quite well." Ni said in that nagging tone he always used to tease his sister.

"You eventually woke up, I see." Ichi commented with a smirk. Before any of them had time to comprehend what was happening, San grabbed them by the collar of their shirts and viciously slammed their heads together. They let out twin yelps of pain, nearly tripping backwards as she released their shirts, and glared at her.

"The hell was that for!" They hissed in union.

"YOU JERKS LEFT WITHOUT ME!" She bellowed angrily.

"We were going to be late." Groaned Ni.

"You could've at least woken me up!" She shot back at him.

"Mother said we shouldn't." Ichi said almost blankly, rubbing his sore head. San growled under her breath.

"So this is the guy, then?" Ni said as he stared towards Ashitaka, who wasn't sure how to react to the current situation.

"Stop saying that like he's not there!" San said angrily.

"Why not?" Ichi shrugged. "We always do it with you."

"No, you don't!"

"Yes, we do. You just tend to start yelling like a banshee to prove your existence."

"I should kick you in the face!"

"She's adorable, isn't she?" Ni said smirking at Ashitaka.

"SHUT IT, BUTTFACE!"

"So sweet…" The twins said in union. San felt the urge to strangle them both. Ashitaka chuckled lightly, catching everyone's attention.

"Ah, I'm sorry," he said with a half-amused, half-embarrassed smile. "I should get going, I need to pick up my little sister."

"Is she as adorable as ours?"

"NI! SHUT THE HELL UP!" Ashitaka laughed a bit at San's outburst, but didn't answer the question. Yakul leaned his head to the side, presenting one of his horns. Ashitaka grabbed it and the elk yanked him up so he could get on his back.

"I'll be seeing you tomorrow then, San." He told her, to which she reflexively nodded. He bowed goodbye to the twins and patted Yakul's side to signal him they were leaving. The two of the them trotted away, and San let out a sigh. She wasn't sure what she was sighing about, though. She glared at her brothers.

"I hate you guys so much." She said. They merely snickered at her, feeling awfully proud of themselves.

"Well, you don't seem to hate that guy so much." Ni commented. San was about to yell something back at him when she suddenly remembered what she was originally supposed to have done.

"Oh noooo!" she moaned. "I forgot to apologize." The twins exchange confused glances.

"Apologize for what?" They asked in union. San gasped loudly, making them jump a bit. "What?"

"I forgot to ask him about the History project!"

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><p><strong>Author's Notes: <strong>Hahaha! Lame ending once again~! I hope no one's feeling deceived by this chapter...

I feel like I made Asbel a bit OOC, but oh well... I haven't got much to say... Hopefully, the next chapter will be easier to write.

If there are any mistakes, grammar errors or such, feel free to point them out. Constructive criticism is very much appreciated. Any advice, ideas or just comment on the story or my writing is very much welcomed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Title: **We all fall in love one day, Princess

**Rating: **K +

**Summary:** [Highschool AU] San literally bumps into Ashitaka, the new transferred student in Iron High. After such a rotten first encounter, things start up on an awkward base between the two, and San can't stand the boy's presence. But only fools don't change their minds.

**Warnings: **May contain some OOCness and a few crude words due to the context of the story.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Princess Mononoke (Mononoke Hime) and other characters used in this story. They are owned by Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki. All the copyrights associated with Princess Mononoke and other Ghibli movies belong to them. No profit is being earned by the writer of this story

I'm so so sorry for the super late update! The end of the year is coming awfully quick, and since it's my last year of Highschool, I don't have as much free time. I might have problems uploading my chapters later on as well, but don't worry, I'm not going to stop this story until it's completed.

This chapter was really hard to write, so I'm not really happy with it. I had stuff planned out, but most of it sounded too early for this chapter, so it's rather empty compared to what I'd originally planned. I hope you all forgive me for that.

I'd like to thank you all for your reviews on the last chapter, and special thanks to Sil Arion for his relatively long review. I really appreciate all your comments.

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><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

"The gods hate me." San decided.

For once, she managed to wake up early enough to get to school _twenty minutes_ before the bell rang. For once, she'd done all her homework and had even started some of the stuff due for later on. And what had their teacher decided to do? Catch a lousy cold! On the third day of school! Now San wasn't the kind to whine about having free hours. But that godforsaken Gonza had decided that, since everyone had been so eager to run away from his last class, he would make good use of their free hour and give them a well-earned lecture. It had been the most annoying thing she had ever heard. Her loath for the man had been magnified.

The next hour hadn't been much better. Not only had they not been allowed a break thanks to Gonza's stupid rambling, but their stupid sadistic Maths teacher—the _charming_ Miss Kushana—had decided they were all very excellent students and that she should prove their worth by giving them a surprise-test. It turned out San wasn't such an excellent student. She was pretty sure she'd written complete rubbish everywhere. Curse that woman. Curse algebra… And anything that had numbers on it.

San sighed. Was the whole week going to be this annoying and crappy? She sure as hell hoped not. If things didn't get any better by the end of the day, she would probably stop coming to school…

"San, how did your test go?" The brunette snapped out of her thoughts, and looked up to Nausicäa.

"Amazingly bad." She answered, sounding unfazed. The red-head grinned.

"Same here."

"I love how we have so much in common." San said bringing a hand to her chest dramatically, earning a laugh from her friend. Their discussion was cut short by Eboshi's arrival. Confused murmurs filled the classroom as everyone regained their seats and San frowned. What was the wench doing here? They were supposed to have English now, not History.

"Good morning, everyone." Said the woman as she got to the front desk. "Please settle down, this won't take long, but I require your full attention."

San sighed inwardly. Eboshi being their class teacher, she sometimes bursted into the classroom to announce random and not always very interesting stuff. The wolf girl wondered what that woman was going to say now.

When she was sure everyone was listening, Eboshi went on with her speech. "I've just been informed of the arrival of an Academic Inspector tomorrow. He will be staying for two weeks, and will spend a day in each class. This being, I expect everyone to behave neatly." A few whispers were exchanged. "And one more thing: the projects are due for the end of next week and not later. Any delay in the handing of the assignment will not be permitted." San's eye twitched at this. "Now, I wish you all a very pleasant day." And with that, she was gone, allowing Mr. Kusakabe to start his lesson.

Dammit. As if that stupid project wasn't stressful enough, that wench had to add on more stress. San cursed inwardly. She'd have to talk about this with Ashitaka real soon… Which reminded her she still hadn't apologized. She glanced quickly towards the brunette. Maybe she should talk to him after class.

English went—thank God—much better than the two first hours. No scolding, no surprise test, everything went perfectly well. San vowed she'd never get Mr Kusakabe off her 'nice people' list. Apparently San's renewed good mood could be smelled all around the classroom, because as soon as the bell rang and Mr Kusakabe left, all the girls who had been staying put the day before were already surrounding Ashitaka. Those annoying little… How the hell was she supposed to talk to him now!

_Just go! You can still talk to him even with those groupies around him._

San hesitated. Should she really? What if they got weird ideas?

_Who cares! It's not like you're going to ask him out or anything._

San chocked. Ask him out? Wha–No! Of course not!

"San, are you blushing?" The wolf girl let out a startled squeak turning towards the speaker.

"Nausicäa, you scared me!" The red-head grinned at her.

"And you really are blushing!" San grumbled under her breath.

"Did you come all this way just to point that out?"

"Nope. I wanted to know how it went." San blinked at her friend confusedly. Nausicäa glanced towards San's side quickly, and the brunette understood immediately.

"I forgot." San admitted. Nausicäa stared at her for a while before frowning.

"You forgot?"

"I forgot."

"…How can you forget something you willingly decided to do?"

"It's complicated…"

"Mhmm~" San couldn't help but notice the undertone in the girl's voice.

"And I'm not telling you anything about it."

"Aaw, come on!"

"No."

"Please?"

"Don't sweat it, Nausicäa." The red-head made a small pout.

"Are you at least going to apologize to him now?" San glanced towards the boy. The girls around him were asking him questions and chit-chatting a bit.

"Maybe later." Nausicäa crossed her arms.

"No. Now." She said firmly.

"Wha–but–"

"Now."

"Nausicäa–"

"Now."

"But what about the gi–"

"Now." San groaned at her friend's stubbornness.

"Fine." She got to her feet. "I'll do it." Nausicäa grinned widely giving her friend a thumb up.

"That's the spirit!" San sighed. She faced the table where Ashitaka was supposably sitting,—it was hard to tell with all those girls around him—took a deep breath, before walking to the crowded table.

"**Excuse me.**" She said loudly, startling a few of the girls. "Ashitaka, we need to talk." All heads turned towards the boy, who blinked at San before making a small nod.

"Excuse me, girls. This seems important." He said, getting off his seat. There were a few protests and disappointed pouts, but the two brunettes were soon left alone. San took a deep breath. This wasn't a big deal, she could do this.

"A–about the history project. We should start working on it soon." What. The. Hell? That's not what she was supposed to say! She mentally slapped herself. Why couldn't she do anything right as soon as this guy was involved?

"You're probably right." Ashitaka said thoughtfully. "When do you reckon we should see each other?"

Not having really thought this through, San had no idea what to say and felt like a complete idiot for even bringing that up. What should she say? What should she say? "Today, maybe…?" Ashitaka stared at her like she'd just said the weirdest thing imaginable.

"Today?" He repeated a bit surprised. San felt her mind race as she tried to figure out why the hell she said that, and what the hell she should do about it now.

"Except if you already have something planned! We can always start tomorrow!" She blurted out. "I mean, it's just that with Eboshi's speech, I thought maybe we should get this done soon and–" San cut herself as she realized she was starting to rant and groaned at herself. "Why do I keep doing that?" She muttered. Ashitaka gave her an amused smile.

"Well, I'm afraid I have an appointment at the hospital this evening. But I'm free tomorrow so I guess it's okay. My house or yours?" San stared at him. Her house? With her brothers? And her mother? No. Absolutely not. They'd never let her live it down and Moro would forever think she had a crush on him, especially since the only person she'd ever invited home was Nausicäa.

"Yours. Definitely yours." She said firmly. Ashitaka easily guessed why.

"Alright then. I'll have to pick up my sister first, though." San nodded understandably. It suddenly reminded her what she was supposed to do in the first place.

"A–Ashitaka!" She said a bit too quickly, startling the boy a bit. "I… Eh… I just wanted…" She was getting nervous again. _Just say it, already! _"I wanted to say I was sorry. For what I said yesterday." Well, it was about time she finally said it! Somewhere in the process, her gaze had fallen to her shoes without her really realizing. She looked up and saw he was smiling at her the same way he had that first day on the roof.

"Thank you." San felt her heart beat faster. W–why was he thanking her? Her cheeks started reddening again. Crap.

"D–don't get any weird ideas! I just felt bad because I don't usually say stuff like that!" She half expected the boy's face to fall at her words, but his smile only widened. He was about to say something, when their Japanese teacher, Miss Lin, walked in the classroom. San had never been so glad to see the woman.

Soon, lunch arrived. San felt undyingly happy to see she hadn't forgotten her bento. Asbel, for once, was the one to meet them up.

"I see everyone brought their bento this time." San glared at the boy.

"You're the one to talk."

"I forget mine all the time, what's you're excuse?"

"I overslept."

"Meh. Legit, I guess." He poked his head to the side to see past her. "Hey, Ashitaka! You joining us?" San sighed. She had resigned herself to the fact Ashitaka would probably be eating lunch with them from now on. It still bugged her, though. She wasn't sure she was ready to accept him just yet. Sure, she'd apologized. Yeah, she was going to his place to work on a History assignment. But that still didn't mean she was okay with him around her.

Ashitaka gave the other boy a smile. "Sure, no problem." Asbel grinned widely.

"Well, then: To the roof!"

"Nope~!" Nausicäa chirped out, taking her boyfriend's hand. "To the bike sheds!" Asbel gave her a confused 'Eh?' making San grin. "We're going to see the most beautiful creature that has ever set foot on this planet~!"

When he saw Yakul, Asbel had seemed a bit stunned, though also a bit relieved. He had probably thought Nausicäa was talking about a human-being when she mentioned the 'most beautiful creature that had ever set foot on this planet', much to San's amusement. The wolf girl had teased him and called him an idiot the whole time Ashitaka had been feeding his elk. Nausicäa hadn't even tried to defend her poor boyfriend, clearly amused by the scene unfolding before her.

"Really, Asbel, you're kind of an idiot." San said for the millionth time, shaking her head as the four of them walked to the roof.

"Hey! You can't blame me for caring!" Asbel answered back defensively.

"You should've known she was talking about anything but a human."

"Leave me alone…" The boy whined. Nausicäa patted his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Asbel. You at least proved you're not the super-jealous-and-possessive type." She told him. Asbel smiled at her.

"He's still an idiot, though." San insisted. Asbel sent her a glare—a rare sight, that always made San feel proud of herself.

"Yeah, sure. I'm an idiot." He said trying to keep his calm. "But at least **I'm** honest with my feelings." San stared blankly at the boy for a second, before her face scrunched into a hard frown.

"The hell's that supposed to mean?" She growled at him.

"You tell me…"

"No, you tell me!"

"You tell me!"

"You tell me!"

"You tell me!"

"Agh! Stop doing that! It's annoying!"

"It's called revenge, my dear San."

"You're so weird."

"Oh, that coming from the girl who has war paint all over her face."

"Oh, that coming from the guy who wears an aviator hat."

"Guys, are you going to just stand there and point out each other's peculiarities for the whole duration of this break?" Nausicäa asked sighing.

"Ah, yeah, you're right." Asbel said thoughtfully. "It'll be far more fun if we include you two!"

"Wha–"

"Nausicäa's the only girl who wears bicker shorts under her skirt." San said, crossing her arms and nodding her head a-matter-of-factly.

"That's because I come to school on a glider, San. You know–"

"Nausicäa's the only girl who gets excited over insect specimens." Asbel said, cutting her.

"Hey! You know that's not true!" The red-head let out indignantly. "And why are you only focusing on me!"

"I don't know anything about Ashitaka." Asbel said defensively.

"Me neither." San added.

"How about the fact he's probably the only person wearing a long sleeved shirt at this period of the year." Groaned Nausicäa. San and Asbel stared at her silently for a long moment.

"Huh?" They let out in union.

"You mean you didn't notice?" Ashitaka asked surprised while Nausicäa shook her head—San thought she heard her sigh an amused 'Typical…'.

The wolf girl stared at brunette. It was true. He was wearing the winter uniform—minus the collar jacket, it was just the long sleeved shirt. How had she not noticed this before? The uniform shifting wasn't until october, so everyone wore the summer uniform. He was the only student in probably the entire Highschool wearing long sleeves. And she hadn't noticed anything? There was no way he'd been wearing that shirt the whole time.

"Since when have you been wearing this?" San let out before she was able to stop herself.

"Since the first day." The brunette answered simply. San opened and closed her mouth, unable to find words to express how shocked she was.

"Do you realize how weird that is?" She finally managed to ask. Ashitaka chuckled at this.

"ASHITAKAAAAA!" Everyone jumped at the sudden cry and turned quickly towards where it had come from. A young woman—she seemed to be in her late twenties—was running towards them, a slightly panicked look on her face.

"Toki?" San's head snapped towards Ashitaka as the name left his lips.

"Who is she?" Before she could get her answer, the woman—whose name was Toki, apparently—had already caught up with them.

"The appointment!" She let out, not even taking the time to catch her breath. "They moved your appointment! It's in twenty minutes! We need to go now!"

It took San a few seconds to realize what she was talking about. Ashitaka had said something about an appointment at the hospital when she asked him about the History project. She hadn't thought much of it, too busy trying not to sound like an idiot, but now it suddenly intrigued her.

"Why would they move the appointment?" Ashitaka asked perplexed.

"How the hell should I know!" The woman let out. "They're idiots, that's what they are! Look, we don't have time for this. I'm taking you to the hospital. You'll come back to get Yakul later."

"Should I go get my schoolbag?"

"No time for that!" Toki said quickly. "We're gonna be late! You'll come back later!" Ashitaka seemed hesitant. He gave the other three a quick glance, excused himself, before running off with Toki, as she dragged him by the arm. San stood there, watching them as they disappeared, a frown on her face.

"What was that all about?" Asbel asked, still stunned by how quickly everything happened. Nausicäa turned towards San.

"San, do you know anything?" The brunette gave her friend a considerate look before glancing back towards where the other had ran off.

"He said something about an appointment at the hospital." She said.

"The hospital?" Asbel frowned. "Is he sick?" San's face fell.

"The hell should I know?" She grumbled. Seeing her friend's mood starting to shift, Nausicäa decided it was a good time to remind everyone they still hadn't eaten.

"We should head for the roof."

Lunch went by uneventfully. It felt like before, when Ashitaka didn't exist for any of them. San felt relaxed, especially seeing as ever since the boy had arrived in Iron Highschool, this would usually be the time when things got complicated between the two. For a while, things were back to how they were. For a while, she forgot about all that had happened since school had started again. But, it only lasted a while. As soon as the bell rang, as soon as she got down the stairs to her classroom, the thought came right back and wouldn't leave for the entire day. She couldn't help it. It bugged her. Was Ashitaka really sick? Not that she was worried or anything. It was just curiosity. The guy was a mystery.

The day ended rather slowly for San. She hadn't managed to get the thought out of her head, which of course leaded her to get completely distracted and nearly poison a plant or two in the botany club—If it wasn't for Nausicäa, those poor plants would've surely died. She had accompanied her friend to the bike sheds, where the red-head parked her manta-ray-like glider and bid her goodbye as the other flew off. While waiting for her brothers, she noticed Yakul wasn't there.

The ride back home had been relatively quiet. Ni had tried to tease her about her 'boyfriend', but the girl had ignored him completely.

"San, are you sure you're okay?" Ichi asked half-worried.

"I'm fine." The reply had been a bit too quick, and thus, probably unconvincing, but San could care less. She just wanted to be left alone.

* * *

><p>"We're home!" The twins let out as they entered the house, San following closely.<p>

"How was your day?" Moro asked, walking out of the kitchen. The twins merely shrugged. San kept her gaze focused on the ground.

"I'm going to my room." She said as she headed for the stairs.

"San." Her mother said sharply, causing the girl to stop partway. "In the kitchen. We need to talk. _Now_." San felt herself tense as Moro walked back into the kitchen. She glanced towards her brothers. The two exchanged glances before giving the girl a sharp nod. San took a deep breath and followed her mother.

They sat at the table, Moro crossing her arms over her chest and San fidgeting nervously.

"What's going on?" Moro asked simply. San ducked her head.

"Nothing."

"San, if you want to lie to your mother, do it will looking at me in the eyes." The sentence was cold. San suddenly felt ashamed. She was an idiot. She lifted her head up slowly. Her mother's gaze was surprisingly soft. "I understand if you don't want to tell your old mother about any of your schoolgirl problems, but you should know I worry about you. If anything's wrong, you can tell me."

San's shoulders slumped. She hated herself for making her mother worry. Especially since, it wasn't something serious. At least, not as serious as her mother thought it was. She lowered her head, not knowing what to say. Moro let out a small sigh and the kitchen fell silent. San wanted to flee, but she knew her mother wouldn't let her go until she at least said something. But, what could she say? That she was acting like this because of a boy? Moro would surely get it wrong, and think her daughter had a crush or something. San's eyes widened as she suddenly remembered something.

"Mother." She said, lifting her head back up. "Is it okay if I go to Ash–a classmate's tomorrow? It's for an assignment." San had barely managed to stop herself from saying the boy's name. Moro quirked a brow at this and a small smirk appeared on her lips.

"Well, yes. If it's for school, I can't really stop you." San fidgeted a bit.

"Um… May I leave?" She felt silly for asking this. It was like she was a child again, always asking permission. Moro laughed at this.

"Permission, eh?" She chuckled. "Of course, you can." San sighed in relief. "And try not to fall asleep before dinner."

San ran up to her room, closing the door behind her, and simply stood there. She sighed. Moro knew something. San was like an open book sometimes, and her mother had no problem reading her. She didn't tease her like Ichi and Ni did, but she always had that little smile on her lips whenever she guessed something about her daughter. If only she was as collected as Ashitaka, then things would be far easier. She frowned. Why was she thinking of him again? It was annoying. He was constantly on her mind. She hated that.

'_But at least __**I'm**__ honest with my feelings._'

Asbel's words rang in her head. She suddenly felt angry again. What the hell was that supposed to mean! She cursed the boy. Just because he had a girlfriend didn't mean he could go around telling her stuff like that! San didn't care. She wasn't interested in boys or love or dating or any of those stuff teenagers were usually into. She was fine the way she was!

'_If my presence bothers you, I won't insist. We don't have to be friends if you're not comfortable with it being that way. We can just be classmates. Just tell me what you want._'

San froze as the thought of what Ashitaka had told her the day before came back to her. Was this what Asbel meant by 'being honest to her feelings'? Was it more to point out how awkward and unclear things were between Ashitaka and her? She had no idea how she should consider the other and how he considered her. He'd said she confused him as much as he confused her. Basically their whole relationship was based on that: confusion. Was that what made everything so awkward? Would things get better if they got to know each other? Did she really want to get to know him?

"Ah! This is so confusing!" She let out, ruffling her head furiously.

"Mother! San's talking to herself again!" Came Ni's voice from outside the room.

"SHUT IT, YOU IDIOT!" The girl yelled out. Her only reply was a pair of snickering. _The gods really do hate me_…

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes: <strong>And voilà! End of chapter! Sorry for the wait and relative emptiness of the chapter. It's very "dialoguey". More stuff will happen later, promised!

Halfway in the writing of this, I realized I hadn't mentioned Ashitaka was wearing a long sleeved shirt—for pretty obvious reasons. I panicked a bit and decided to include it here. That was kind of clumsy of me, sorry!

So you might have noticed I used Princess Kushana from _'Nausicäa of the valley of the wind' _as a Maths teacher. I don't know why, but the thought of her being a Maths teacher sounded amusing. Lin from _'Spirited Away' _is the Japanese teacher. Some of you might have guessed who the Academy Inspector is. If not, well, you'll get to know in the next chapter!

I'm thinking of changing the POV in, not the next chapter, but the one after that. I'm not sure yet. I might give it a little try, just to see how it goes.

If there are any mistakes, grammar errors or such, feel free to point them out. Constructive criticism is very much appreciated. Any advice, ideas or just comment on the story or my writing is very much welcomed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Title: **We all fall in love one day, Princess

**Rating: **K +

**Summary:** [Highschool AU] San literally bumps into Ashitaka, the new transferred student in Iron High. After such a rotten first encounter, things start up on an awkward base between the two, and San can't stand the boy's presence. But only fools don't change their minds.

**Warnings: **May contain some OOCness and a few crude words due to the context of the story.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Princess Mononoke (Mononoke Hime) and other characters used in this story. They are owned by Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki. All the copyrights associated with Princess Mononoke and other Ghibli movies belong to them. No profit is being earned by the writer of this story

Oh, good Lord, I finally made it! I'm so sorry for the lateness of this chapter. Last week was pretty chaotic (Had a mock exam and had to go find an apartment for next year). Luckily, we have Easter holidays here in France, so I should be able to upload the next chapter pretty quickly.

Since I wasn't happy with the previous chapter, I took a bit more time to write this one (otherwise, I would've probably posted it Saturday). Thank you for all your reviews, and huge thanks to Sil Arion for all the good advise. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4<strong>

Pride. That was basically what San felt as she opened the door to her classroom. Pure and delightful pride. For the second time that week, she had arrived early. Oh, well, not as early as the previous day, but that was just a detail. She puffed her chest out proudly. Maybe today wouldn't be such a bad day. Her mood boosted up, she walked up to her desk with a satisfied smile on her face. Her smile turned into a blank stare as she glanced towards Ashitaka.

The boy was sitting down, his elbow settled on his desk and his hand holding his head. San couldn't see his eyes because his hair fell in front of his face and hid them, but from her angle, he kind of looked like he was in deep thoughts. The wolf girl blinked before frowning slightly. Something seemed off. Was he... sleeping? The sound of a slow and steady breathing told her she had guessed correctly. He must've been pretty exhausted. Should she wake him up? She wiggled her nose. Yeah, she probably should. San walked to Ashitaka's desk and crossed her arms wondering how she should proceed. When she found nothing, she decided she should just shake him a bit.

"Oi. Ashitaka," she shook his shoulder. "Wake up." A faint groan escaped Ashitaka's throat as he started shifting a bit. He blinked sleepily before looking up towards the wolf girl.

"San?" he let out drowsily. She huffed at the boy.

"No, it's the Tooth Fairy," she said sarcastically. "Of course it's me!" This guy, really. San was beginning to wonder if working with him was really a good idea.

"Sorry," he sighed, leaning back into his chair. "I guess it's the painkillers." San froze at the words. Painkillers?

"Why would you need painkillers?" The question held much more worry in it than San would've liked it to. Ashitaka closed his eyed.

"The doctor insisted," he answered sleepily. "But the side effects are a bit hard to deal with." A frown appeared on the girl's face. Her worry from the previous day was starting to grow back again. What was wrong with Ashitaka? Was he really that sick? The brunette boy seemed to be dozing off again, his head starting to lean towards the side.

"Hey!" San let out, making him jolt back awake. "The bell's gonna ring in probably less than a minute, so it's not time to fall asleep." She scolded him, earning a sleepy apology. She sighed.

Okay, this guy was weird. She'd gotten over that aspect of his persona. But what if all that oddity was linked to something bigger? San had noticed Ashitaka wasn't a very talkative person. Always quiet and calm. The little information she'd been given just now was probably due to the fact the boy was too sleepy to think clearly. San doubted he would've told her that much if he'd been fully awake. In fact, she probably would've never known he took painkillers. What should she make of all this? Dammit, this was all getting annoying! A soft sigh got her out of her train of thoughts. Ashitaka was drifting off again.

"Ashitaka!" San hissed at the boy, waking him up. This would prove to be a hell of a day...

And indeed, the first two hours were quite amusing. During the first hour, San kept taking glances at the brunette boy. For twenty minutes, he seemed to be drifting into short light slumbers. It was only when the bell rang he seemed fully awake. And right on time, too. The next hour was biology, so they had to move to the lab. Ashitaka got to meet their teacher, Mr. Kamaji.

"Hm, so you're... Emishi Ashitaka," the six-armed man said, checking the list. Ashitaka only nodded. "Well, then we should get you somewhere to sit."

The thing about the lab was that the original arrangement of the seats had been completely forgotten since the first week of school. Everyone had rushed to sit next to their friends. Mr. Kamaji hadn't said anything about it and had even written down the new layout on a paper he always kept next to his list. So Ashitaka, being new, had no attributed seat. As soon as the man had asked who wanted to share their seat with the boy, a mass of girls had jumped to their feet, and in a choir of "Me! Me!' and 'Over here! Over here!', had tried to persuade the teacher to send him to one of them. Mr. Kamaji had decided it was probably best he chose a seat for the brunette.

"Let's see... Ah! How about here, next to Seiji?" One of his arms stretched through the room, everyone scooting away as it past next to them, because no matter how used to the sight they all were, it was still kind of gross. It reached an empty seat next to the said Seiji, a raven haired boy. This caused a great amount of disappointed 'Aaaw's to flow through the lab. San had a hard time keeping her laughter contained—Nausicäa nudged her in the side for that, though she could hardly keep a straight face herself. Oh, today was a glorious day.

"Say, Ashitaka, what was that appointment you had yesterday?" Nausicäa asked. It was already lunch time—for once San felt like it had arrived amazingly quickly—and the three of them were heading for Asbel's class after having fed Yakul.

"It's nothing. No need to worry," Ashitaka answered reassuringly. "It was just a routine check."

"How about the painkillers," San huffed out. "Were those part of the routine check?" Nausicäa's eyes widened at San's words.

"Painkillers?" she repeated. She gave Ashitaka a worried look. "You take painkillers?" He said nothing, his face suddenly ceasing to show any emotion. The girls exchanged glances. Okay, so apparently they wouldn't get much more out of him.

"At least tell me if this cancels our plans." San demanded suddenly. Ashitaka blinked at the girl before smiling.

"No, it's fine, it doesn't change anything. You can still come this evening." San made a sharp nod, her hands settled on her hips. She heard a small hum and turned towards Nausicäa. The red-head was smiling broadly at them. San gave her a confused look.

"_Our plans_?_ You can still come this evening_?" Nausicäa repeated with that teasing tone of hers. "Do you two realize just how much that sounds like you planned a date?" San felt her face flush. Wha–Wha–WHAT? A date? A date? No. No. Nooooo...

The flustered brunette opened her mouth, letting out a sound halfway between a choke and a gasp, before closing it and opening it again, and finally closing it. She would not overreact. She would not overreact. She. Would not. Overreact.

"NAUSICÄA, FOR THE LOVE OF–" The girl finally bursted out. She cut herself feeling a swarm of curses course up her throat. She swallowed it all back. Do not. Overreact! San took a deep breath. "Can we just go?" She groaned. Nausicäa grinned at her friend's reaction.

"Sorry, about that San!" The red-head sang out. San couldn't help the nasty look she send her. In the end, the whole conversation about Ashitaka's painkillers was completely forgotten.

As they reached Asbel's class, they were surprised to find the boy wasn't there. They were told they'd probably find him in lab 3. And he was there indeed. The sight was a bit shocking though. Goo. Disgusting black sticky-looking goo everywhere. On the walls, tables and floor. And it stank too. Some students were scrubbing furiously, mopping the floor and filling some buckets with the disgusting sludge. Mr Fujimoto—the eccentric yet gaunt-looking Chemistry teacher—was running around frantically, yelling out instructions and directing everyone towards a side or another of the lab.

"What the hell happened here...?" San grimaced, placing an arm in front of her nose. Yuck. This was so gross. On cue, Asbel jogged up to the three, a mop in a hand and a bucket in the other.

"Guys!" he exclaimed as he reached them. "I'm so sorry about all of this."

"A–Asbel, what in the world...?" Nausicäa breathed out, her mouth agape. Asbel let out a nervous laugh.

"It's a long story..."

"Then make it short!" San hissed at him. The aviator hat-wearing brunette sighed.

"That's easy for you to say."

"Where the hell did all this... this _slime_ come from?" San shivered at how gross this all was.

"Let's just say someone mixed up the wrong concoctions..." he answered. "Look, Fujimoto wants us to clean up this mess, so you guys start without me and I'll join you when it's all over, 'kay?" he added with grin. Nausicäa didn't seem to like the idea.

"But..." she trailed off, not managing to say anything. She bit her lip. Asbel's grin turned into a small smile.

"Nausicäa, don't worry, it won't be long. I promi–"

"Mr Pejite! Would you please help your classmates with the cleaning?" Fujimoto yelled out, cutting the boy.

"Ah! Coming!" Asbel answered back. He turned quickly towards his girlfriend and grinned. "I'll be back soon, promised!" He gave her a quick peck on the lips and ran back to work.

They left the lab, Nausicäa still extremely disappointed. San sighed. And the day had started so well, too...

"Nausicäa," she started, "Cheer up. Asbel said he'd join us." The red-head said nothing, only staring at her feet, pouting as they walked towards the roof. San groaned.

"She's right, you know," Ashitaka joined in—'Bout time he said something!—"I'm sure he'll work twice as fast just to be with you." Nausicäa smiled at this, but kept her head bowed. After a few seconds she lifted her head up.

"Thanks, you two," she said softly, "But I think I'm going to go back and help him."

"WHAT?" San was unable to stop her outburst. Nausicäa was about to say something when a loud 'Ahem' erupted from behind them, stopping them in they're track. All heads turned towards the sound.

San blinked. A rather short man was standing right behind them, a large smile curving his lips. His whole appearance reminded the girl of a monk: a jolly face, a red nose—maybe from drinking too much sake—, a rather large stomach and a small mustache that paired well with his complete lack of hair. She noted the suit he was wearing was in sharp contrast with his overall appearance.

"Mr Jigo?" San's head whirled towards Ashitaka at practically the same time as Nausicäa's. He knew this guy? San groaned inwardly. What was it this time? Some uncle coming to pick him up to go to the dentist's? The said Mr Jigo beamed brightly.

"Ah! Ashitaka!" He exclaimed with a grin, spreading his arms wide open, "What a small small world! If I'd ever been told I'd meet you here, I would never have believed it!" Ashitaka bowed politely at the man.

"It's a pleasure to meet you again, Sir," he said. The monk—San didn't care if he really was one or not, she just couldn't help calling him that—burst out laughing.

"Polite as always, I see!" He chuckled. "Well it's good to see you too, my boy, though I'm quite curious as to why you came to a place as wonderful as Tatara." San glanced at the brunette boy, wondering how he was going to react. A small smile formed on his lips at the old man's question.

"I'm afraid it's a rather complicated story." He said simply. This made the wolf girl frown. Now that was an evasive answer or she didn't know what she was talking about. If he was doing all this just to tease her curiosity... Well he was doing it pretty damn well! The response made Jigo smirk.

"Being secretive, I see." He grinned again. "Ah, well, it's not like I could've spared the time to listen, you're wonderful headmistress, Yubaba, is waiting for me,"—he didn't seem that much in hurry to meet her, though—"I'll be seeing you again, then. Apparently I'm supposed to stay here for a few days."

"Two weeks." Ashitaka corrected. San's eyes widened as she suddenly realized who the old man probably was. Was this–? Was this the Academy Inspector Eboshi had mentioned? But wait... How did he know Ashitaka? San frowned at how stupid that question was. The monk was an Academy Inspector. Obviously, he'd inspected Ashitaka's previous school. She felt like face-palming at herself. _Dammit brain, why do you work so slowly?_

"Ah, well yes, I guess," the mo—no, wait—inspector shrugged, "Have a nice day all of you." And that said, he walked right past them, waving them goodbye, and strolled to his destination, obviously not really caring about making Yubaba wait. What a weird old man...

"Uh, who was that?" Nausicäa asked, clearly at a loss.

"Wha–You didn't guess?" San gasped out, "That was obviously the inspector the wench told us about!" The red-head blinked and let out a knowing 'Ah'.

"Well, I guess that explains the little chat," she commented, more to herself than to anyone else. "And San, you shouldn't call Mrs Eboshi a wench. That's really rude."

"GUYYYYS!" That voice. That loud bubbly and sometimes pretty annoying voice. San recognized it immediately—that and the still strong stench from... whatever that thing was. A quick glance towards Nausicäa, as the girl's face suddenly brightened, only confirmed what she already knew.

"ASBEL!" Came Nausicäa's rejoiced cry. She ran towards him, encircling her arms around her boyfriend's neck in a spirited hug. San sighed at the two love-birds, though she couldn't help smiling.

"Those two, really," she said in faked exasperation, "Being all mushy all the time." From the corner of her eye, she saw Ashitaka smile at her.

* * *

><p>The sound of the last bell ringing through the air was like music to San's ears. Not. In all honesty, she would've rather stayed at the botany club for a few more hours. But she had work to do. She sighed as she headed for the archery club. She might as well go find Ashitaka. The wolf girl suddenly wondered if she'd taken all the books she thought would be useful for their assignment. She mentally checked her list, trying hard to remember if she had actually put the different books in her bag, with not so much luck. Of course, while pondering furiously, she forgot to pay attention to her surroundings and ended up bumping into someone.<p>

"Oi! Watch where you're go–San?" Oh great. Of all the people she could've bumped into, it had to be her brothers. Ichi—in whom San had bumped into—cocked a brow at his little sister. "You do know the exit's the other way around."

"Leave me alone," she groaned back, "I don't have time for you two."

"Oh?" Ni let out with a smirk. "And why's that?" San growled dangerously at the two. The twins exchanged glances before sighing in union.

"Fine," Ichi said. "We're not gonna annoy you or anything, but try to get that temper of yours down."

"Yeah," added Ni, "It's starting to worry even Mother." San's jaw tightened at the mention of their mother. This again...

"...I'll try." She said quietly. No need to start a fuss. Ichi patted his sister's head.

"Well, then, sis," he said, "We'll see you home."

"Good luck with whatever you're planning." Ni snickered out, obviously sensing it had something to do with Ashitaka. San gave them a slightly annoyed 'Mmh' in response.

Amazingly, when she arrived in front of the club, the door was still closed. San wiggled her nose. She didn't see the point on knocking. They'd probably come out in less than a minute. She sighed before suddenly freezing as she remembered what had happened last time she'd come. Oh, no... Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no. She brought a hand to her face and groaned. There was going to be a huge misunderstanding again. Fine then. She'd just have to deal with it the usual way: yelling and being angry.

Someone finally walked out of the club—San couldn't tell if it was the same guy from last time—followed by a few more boys. The wolf girl stood still, eyes focused on the entrance, waiting for her study partner, looking deeply concentrated. This got her a few stares, which she easily ignored. And suddenly, she noticed a familiar—and still very tall, apparently—figure. Oh, crud. The senior from last time... He noticed her and grinned widely. She responded with a glare, her body tensing reflexively.

"Ah! It's you again!" he chirped out. He walked up to her, a goofy grin plastered on his face. "Here for the new kid, eh~?" San's eye twitched at the tone, and, not leaving him time to realize what was going on, she grabbed him by the collar and jerked him down towards her violently, only leaving an few inches between their faces.

"Listen, you," she growled menacingly, her eyes darkening, "I know what you're thinking and it's making me _very_ angry. So either you cut it out, or you'll wind up with a broken nose. Capiche?"

San really enjoyed the slightly terrified look on the other's face as he nodded slowly, swallowing the lump in his throat. Oh, today was indeed a glorious day. So glorious, she couldn't help the wide grin that slowly spread across her face—and furthermore freaking out the guy in front of her.

"San?" At the mention her name, the now startled brunette whirled her head towards the speaker. Ashitaka was giving her the most confused look she'd ever seen him pull. "Um," he started hesitantly, "What are you doing?"

San released her captor's collar, letting him take a few steps back. "Meeting new people." She simply answered with a shrug. Obviously perplexed by the girl's response, Ashitaka didn't press the issue and the two of them left, the boy bidding his still stunned club partner goodbye.

As the two made it to the bike sheds, San felt a smile creep up her face at the sight of Yakul. Quickening her pace a bit, she reached the elk and scratched under his neck affectionately.

"Hey, boy," she hummed, "Nice to see you again."

"San's coming with us today," Ashitaka told his elk—San wondered how often he talked to Yakul—"I hope you don't mind carrying more people today."

Yakul made a small puff of approval in response—the wolf girl could tell since she was used to communicating with animals. She hadn't expected Ashitaka to reply with a small 'Thanks, boy'. This made her realize just how close the two of them were. Ashitaka turned towards her.

"Would you prefer to sit at the front or at the back?" He asked her. It took her a few seconds to realize what he meant by that. They were _both_ going to ride Yakul. Why the hell had that never occurred to her? Ugh, whatever. She frowned reflexively. Front or back? Front meant he'd be sitting behind her... And since he was the one leading Yakul... Even though he was taller than her, he'd have to lean against her...

"I–I'll sit at the back," she let out more quickly than she probably should have. No way in hell was she seating at the front. That'd be _way_ too awkward. Ashitaka didn't seem to notice girl's nervousness, or if he did, he didn't say anything about it, and he simply hopped onto Yakul's back like he had two days ago. He offered San a hand but, feeling somehow self-conscious, the wolf girl declined it and climbed on her own.

San had to admit she enjoyed the ride. She'd never travelled on anything other than her brothers' backs. It was very different from what she was used to, but not totally unpleasant. They passed through an oddly familiar path. Wasn't this the road she sometimes took when she was late? She looked up just in time to take a glimpse of the place from where she'd barged in that day, when she had bumped into Ashitaka. How weird... Only a few days ago, she was pretty sure she hated his guts, and now she was going to his place for a school project. And she still had no idea what she thought of him.

A few minutes later, they reached what San guessed was the Junior High Ashitaka's little sister—What was her name again?—attended. Yakul's presence didn't seem to bring up that much attention, although a few students stopped to stare. San quickly understood that if Yakul wasn't such a big deal for them,—they were probably used to seeing Ashitaka come pick up his little sister—her presence, on the other hand, intrigued them much more. The one or two whispers she managed to pick up only proved her assumptions were true.

"Ashitaka!" a voice chirped out from afar. A black haired girl came running towards them. She had short hair and a weird looking bun—if that could really be called a bun. San easily guessed it was Ashitaka's sister.

"Kaya, how was your day?" Ashitaka asked when the girl reached them.

"Great," the said Kaya answered. She turned towards San and smiled at her. "You must be San," she bowed. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

San bowed back clumsily. "Ah, it's nice to meet you too." It seemed excessive politeness was in the family...

Ashitaka helped his sister climb onto Yakul, settled her at the front and they were off. The trip was longer than what San had expected. The more they rode, the further from Tatara's downtown they got. They reached a relatively quiet neighborhood—San was surprised a place like this actually existed in this city—and stopped at a small one-story house. It looked like one of those ready-built apartment houses, but with a surprisingly large garden—not that large, but still pretty big if you compared it to the small green patches those houses usually displayed. They got off Yakul's back and Ashitaka removed his mount's saddle.

"This seems like a nice place." San commented. Kaya smiled at this.

"It's a bit small, but it's really comfortable," she said, "I'm sure you'll like it."

As they went inside, the two siblings announced their arrival with a simultaneous 'We're back'. Hearing them, a man popped his head into the doorway. San couldn't help thinking he had a rather funny looking face, the type that made you feel an almost instant friendly liking for the man. She noticed his right arm was in plaster. He grinned widely at them.

"Hey, you two," he let out, "Welcome back!" He posed, blinking as he noticed San. A wide grin slowly crept onto his face. San's eye twitched, as she was suddenly reminded of Ni, whenever he noticed or came up with something that would ultimately, and undeniably, embarrass his little sister. "Ashitaka, you never told us your study partner was such a cute girl!"

San blinked at words... before blinking a bit more. Cute? She was...cute? Well that was new. No one had ever said that about her before—apart from her brothers when they teased her. She looked towards Ashitaka with a puzzled look. The boy let out a small nervous laugh.

"San, this is Kohroku," he said, probably thinking that's what she was silently asking. San bowed at the man,—who was still standing in the doorway between, what was probably the living room, and the front hall—and let out a somewhat shy 'Good evening'. This seemed to make Korhoku grin even wider.

"She's really cute!" he exclaimed, "You got good taste, Chief!" San's jaw dropped at the comment. Wha–Wha–WHAT? She wasn't sure if she should feel completely mortified or angry. She spun her head towards Ashitaka, ready to ask him if she had really heard correctly, and was stunned to see his face had taken a red tint. He was... blushing...? Wait... Ashitaka was blushing...? _Wait_. Ashitaka was showing _emotions_? Well, damn.

"Kohroku, please." San noted the slightly pleading tone he used—It reminded her of Nausicäa, whenever San was about to start a cursing or fist fight, or both, depending on how angry she was. Kaya giggled at her brother's embarrassment, and San suddenly felt the urge to smirk at the boy. Yup. Today was a good day.

Someone walked out of the kitchen and smacked Kohroku at the back of the head, making him yelp in pain. It was the woman from the other day... Toki, if she remembered correctly.

"Stop being an idiot, you big dope," she groaned angrily, "We rarely get any visitors, and I don't want you scaring them off with your stupid face." Ouch, harsh.

"But, Sweetness..." Kohroku whimpered helplessly.

"Shut it," she said firmly. She turned towards San and gave her a warm smile and a small nod. "Hello, you must be San. I'm Toki. Don't mind my idiotic husband, he tends to act like a moron." San made a small smile.

"Ah, um, it's okay,"—Why was she being so damn awkward, today?—"I-it's a pleasure to meet you." She said, returning a small nod. Toki blinked at her before bursting out laughing.

"My, my!" she sang out loudly, "You _are_ cute!" At this, Kohroku jumped out of his muteness with a 'Hah!".

"Wha'd' I say? Wha'd' I say?" he let out with a victorious grin. Toki snorted at him.

"Don't start, you. You're still a pretty lousy husband." He let out the most heartbroken choke at his wife's insensitive words. San felt sorry for the man, but couldn't help being amused by how easy it was for his wife to push him around. _Well, this will prove to be an interesting evening_.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes: <strong>San finally has a good day! Poor girl, I've been putting her through so much. She deserved a little break.

I should probably apologize for the ending. The original chapter was supposed to have the whole studying scene in it as well, but that would've made a **huge** chapter, meaning much more hours of writing, and I already felt bad for making you all wait. So yeah, the rest is for Chapter 5, which I will start writing tomorrow, because it's already midnight here, and I need to sleep.

So, yeah, Jigo's the Academy Inspector. I used Kamaji from '_Spirited Away_' as the Biology teacher and Fujimoto from '_Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea_' as the Chemistry teacher. Yubaba from '_Spirited Away_' is the headmistress, because it seemed like a logical choice. I also alluded to Seiji Amasawa from '_Whisper of the Heart_'. Haven't seen the movie yet, but he was the first male I could think of (I got a few others afterwards of course, but I didn't see the point in changing him).

About the POV changing I told you about in the previous chapter, I think I'm not going to do it. Or at least not this soon. So happy seeing-everything-through-San's-eyes-clouded-by-wolf-like-furry~!

If there are any mistakes, grammar errors or such, feel free to point them out. Constructive criticism is very much appreciated. Any advice, ideas or just comment on the story or my writing is very much welcomed.


	5. Chapter 5

**Title: **We all fall in love one day, Princess

**Rating: **K +

**Summary:** [Highschool AU] San literally bumps into Ashitaka, the new transferred student in Iron High. After such a rotten first encounter, things start up on an awkward base between the two, and San can't stand the boy's presence. But only fools don't change their minds.

**Warnings: **May contain some OOCness and a few crude words due to the context of the story.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Princess Mononoke (Mononoke Hime) and other characters used in this story. They are owned by Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki. All the copyrights associated with Princess Mononoke and other Ghibli movies belong to them. No profit is being earned by the writer of this story

Okay, I got no excuse this time. I should've uploaded this chapter far sooner. But I procrastinated. Sorry. It didn't really help that I ended up typing the rest of the chapter with only one hand. Not sure when I'll be able to write and post Chapter 6, since I'm going to England this week, and I've got mock exams again next week.

Again, thank you for the reviews. Big thanks to those who added this story to their story alert. Hope you'll enjoy this chapter.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5<strong>

San tapped her pen on the table gently, as she read through the lines of one of her books, hoping to find something interesting for their assignment.

After her amusing first encounter with the owners of the house, Ashitaka had led her to where they'd be working. From what she'd understood, it was a guest room, but Ashitaka and his sister were sharing it for the time being. It was a rather small room, with a desk in a corner, and a low table, with a cushion at both sides of it, so they could seat. San noticed the cupboard where the futons were probably stored.

Kaya had said she would move to the living room to do her homework, that way the two of them could work calmly. Kohroku had almost immediately made a teasing remark, quickly followed by a whack at the back of his head from his wife.

Although San had brought a few books, she wasn't sure they'd provide them with enough information. Ashitaka had one or two books of his own on Muromachi period, but they seemed to lack detailed information regarding some specific events and subjects. It didn't help that they were no computers in the house, for a quick check on the Internet—San didn't really trust whatever was posted there anyway. They had worked for what felt like hours, and frankly San was getting tired. All that reading was starting to mess with her head. She didn't understand half of what she'd read. San was pretty sure she'd skipped a line or two, so everything seemed confused. Ugh! This was so annoying! She let her head fall onto the small table with a loud 'bang', probably startling Ashitaka.

"San, are you all right?" came the boy's worried question. _Sure, I'm okay. I just like randomly throwing my head on tables and stuff_. She let out a muffled grumble to inform him of how stupid she thought that question was. He seemed to get the message because he corrected himself with an interesting proposition: "We can take a break if you want."

San's head popped back up almost immediately. "Yeah," she sighed, "That'd be nice." She stretched her body, getting rid of the accumulated weariness in her muscles. Ashitaka smiled at her and closed the book he'd been studying.

"I'll admit it was getting tiring for me too." he said. San gave him a small 'heh' as a response. It suddenly struck her that this was probably the best time to start questioning him a bit. She crossed her legs quickly and leaned towards him.

"Say, Ashitaka," she started, catching the boy's attention. "I've been wondering; how exactly are Kohroku and Toki related to you?" She figured it was better to start with something that had nothing to do with his appointment, the painkillers or the reasons he moved to Tatara. "I mean, you mentioned them being friends, but how exactly."

"Well, Toki is an old friend of my mother's," he answered—San noted it was the first time he actually said something about his parents. "They used to go to Highschool together. They kept close contact, even when Toki moved to Tatara, after she married Kohroku."

San couldn't help grinning at the mention of the couple. "Toki's a bit rough with her husband, though." She said. Ashitaka smiled at this.

"Believe it or not, she really loves him," he chuckled. "More than anything in the world."

"Ugh, all this mushy talk reminds me of Asbel and Nausicäa." San moaned, letting her chin fall on the table.

"They do make an adorable couple." Ashitaka replied with a small grin. San straightened up, letting out a loud 'HAH!', startling the brunette in front of her.

"And it was even worse _before_ they started dating!" she let out. "Every time they were together, people would go 'Oh, you two make such a cute couple!' or 'Aw, you'd look cute together!', and those two would blush like a couple of tomatoes, and of course look even cuter! And when they weren't being friendly, they were being all flustered and awkward. It was so sickeningly cute, you couldn't get near them without worrying about getting diabetes!"

Ashitaka laughed wholeheartedly at the end of the girl's rant, taking her aback. It was pretty much the first time she heard him actually laugh. It was usually only chuckles or small laughters—there was that time, when he'd told her she confused him, but it was a stifled laugh, so it didn't really count. The sound and sight made San's gut flutter again, just like the first time he'd said her name. She felt her cheeks heating up, but not an ounce of embarrassment, like she usually would when she realized she was blushing. Just a warm feeling in her chest. Her lips curled up into a smile, as the odd need to laugh slowly swam to the surface.

"You're really an interesting person, San." The boy told her, finally catching his breath, a wide grin still plastered on his face. San huffed, puffing her chest up a bit.

"Well, of course I am!" she answered, trying to hide how flustered the comment really made her feel, in a fake arrogant tone. "Why in the world would you think otherwise?" This made him chuckle.

"I'm really serious, you know," He leaned a bit towards her. "You've been asking me a lot of questions since we met, but I know close to nothing about you."

"Hah!" San let out. "You know close to nothing about me? I don't know all that much about you either!"

"It's still more than what I know." He pointed out. San huffed at him, crossing her arms.

"Fine. What do you want to know?"

"Anything you're willing to tell me."

San cocked her head to the side thoughtfully. "Hmm, I'm not sure I'm all that willing to tell you anything about myself..." She smirked at him in a 'ain't-giving-you-what-you-want-until-you-give-me-what-I-want' fashion. Ashitaka sighed at the girl.

"Fine, I'll tell you what you want to know,"—_Bingo!_—"As long as it doesn't have anything to do with my health, or the reasons for coming to Tatara." _Dammit!_ It was San's turn to sigh. That was probably the best she'd get from him, so she might as well take it.

"Deal." She grumbled.

And so they started chatting, the History assignment pretty much forgotten. San told him about her family and the fact she'd been adopted,—it wasn't much of a big deal for her, since she was happy with her wolf family—about how she met Nausicäa and how much she hated Eboshi—he grinned at this, probably enjoying the fact that the girl's loath wasn't directed towards him, for once. As promised, he answered the few questions she asked him. San was surprised to learn that he used to live in Hokkaido. That was pretty damn far, considering Tatara was situated near Tokyo—which easily explained why the city was so loud.

"Wait... If you're from Hokkaido, how the hell do you know our Academy Inspector?" San couldn't help asking that. Okay, sure, the man had probably visited thousands of schools, but Hokkaido was waaaaaay to far. No way in hell had the monk—She was probably going to call him that forever—visited Ashitaka's old Highschool.

"Well, to tell you the truth, I had no idea he worked as an inspector until today." San blinked at the boy's reply.

"What...?" She let out with a frown. Ashitaka smiled at her confusion.

"He used to work as a school counselor in my old Highschool." Okay this just made things more confusing.

"Then why the hell is he in our school, on behalf of the Academy, checking that things aren't too shady?"

"I wish I knew... Mr Jigo and I talked a bit from time to time, but I never heard of this."

San wiggled her nose. "Maybe he just changed jobs." Ashitaka didn't seem convinced.

"That still doesn't explain why he moved to Honshu for the job. He could've stayed in Hokkaido." San frowned. This was getting seriously weird. Ugh! Why was everyone being so secretive! And this was distracting her from her primary goal, getting more information on Ashitaka and possibly why he left his hometown.

Now that she thought about it, even Jigo seemed suspicious of why the boy moved in here. And there was also the thing with the appointment. Ashitaka had mention it was just a 'routine check', and although she didn't really believe him, it sounded odd. If that had really been a routine check, that meant he'd probably gotten a few other appointments since he got to Tatara. That didn't sound right. But if it was true, then that would also mean that, whatever was wrong with him, it was probably really serious. Her frown deepened as worry started to creep through her, her gaze lowering towards the still open book in front of her. Okay, now she really needed to know what the problem really was.

San had kept silent the whole time, her frown the only thing moving. Ashitaka gave her a look, though she didn't catch it since she wasn't looking. "You shouldn't think about it to much," he said, probably thinking she was still pondering over the whole Jigo affair. "I'm sure it's nothing."

The wolf girl lifted her head and stared straight into his eyes. Her worried looked slowly mirrored itself on the boy's face, as he seemed to understand there was something else on her mind. They stayed like that for a while, San trying to figure out if she should go all the way and ask him, Ashitaka silently waiting for her to speak.

"Ashitaka?" she finally managed, in a small voice. He responded with a soft 'Yes?', making her feel even less comfortable with what she was about to ask. She had to know. Her unsure gaze turned into a determined one. She **had** to know.

"What's really wrong with you?"

Ashitaka's expression seemed to harden slightly at the girl's question. "We said we wouldn't mention my health." He said steadily.

"I know," she grumbled. "But this is really starting to bug me. The appointment yesterday, the painkillers today, the fact you don't want to say anything about it... I'm starting to think you have really serious health problems." For the second time that day, the boy's face became void of any emotion. This made San's blood boil slowly. All the anger she had previously felt for the brunette coursed back into her. Not only was he keeping things from her, but he was trying to avoid answering her questions, by chickening out? Oh, he would not get away with that!

"Why won't you say anything?" she asked angrily, bearing her teeth at the boy. "You're making everyone worry! You're making Nausicäa worry, you're making Asbel worry, you're even making **me** worry!" She was so angry, admitting that hadn't been embarrassing in the least. Ashitaka lowered his head slightly, still silent, still refusing to show any emotion, though San could sense some edginess. She growled angrily. "Ashitaka!" She barked, trying to get him to react or at least look at her.

"It's nothing." He said calmly. It's nothing? It's _nothing_? Did he really think he was going to convince her with that? The wolf girl was about to yell at him for all his was worth, when she noticed a peculiar little detail; he was clenching his right arm. Really tightly. She stared at his arm and back at him. Why would he be clenching his arm? Was he angry at her? As if her reaction wasn't understandable! And suddenly, it clicked. The painkillers, the long sleeved shirt.

"It's your arm, right?" she said. "There's something wrong with your arm." San thought she saw Ashitaka's jaw tighten, but she wasn't sure. She felt a sudden shill run down her spine. The atmosphere had gone relatively tense all of a sudden. But that wasn't going to stop her. "Answer me, Ashitaka! Is it your arm?"

He said nothing. Something inside San suddenly snapped. That. Was. It. Not thinking anymore, she crawled onto the table,—Books, be damned!—and leaned towards the boy's face until only a few inches separated them. Ashitaka was taken aback, his body freezing completely and his eyes widening. San could care less what he thought right now, she was furious!

"Okay, listen up, you," she hissed at him. "I'm sick and tired of you. You're being seriously selfish. You said you wanted us to be friends, remember?" She waited for a response, and when she got none, she repeated '**Remember?**', a bit louder and with more irritation, getting a slow nod from the still stunned boy. "Well here's something for you to ponder over: How the hell can I be friends with someone who won't even tell me if he's sick, dying or if he just broke a bone or two?"

San's words were a bit harsh, but she needed him to understand that things couldn't work out if they stayed like this, and if he dared ignore her again, she would head-butt him. Maybe then, he'd finally get how hardheaded—literally and figuratively—she really was. Ashitaka seemed to understand as his face fell slowly into an expression of guilt. It made something inside the girl twitch painfully. It was the first time she saw him pull such a sorry look. She felt her anger wear off, her gaze softening. They stared at each other, Ashitaka silently asking for her forgiveness, and San giving in, accepting his apology. He seemed to hesitate, and finally taking his decision, he was about to say something, when the sound of the door sliding open interrupted them.

"San, Ashitaka, dinner's r–" Kaya cut herself as she saw the two, her eyes widening. It took San a few seconds to realize why. Her face paled. She was on the table... Leaning towards the shocked girl's brother... Their faces awkwardly close... That was basically opened to many more or less suggestive interpretations.

Kaya stayed there awkwardly for a while, before deciding she should probably say something. "Uh... Toki sent me to tell you dinner's ready... I–uh–S-sorry if I'm bothering you... I'll... just... leave..." She trailed off towards the end, her voice going smaller, her face redder and her gaze slowly falling towards her feet. She took a few small steps back, before cautiously closing the door.

San stared in mortified horror towards the door. That did not just happen. That. Did not. Just happen. She did not just–That did not just–No. Nooooooooo... San slowly climbed down the table, making sure not to make _any_ eye contact with Ashitaka, and sat back on her cushion, where she stared blankly at the book in front of her. She did not want to see the look on his face. If she did, she would most certainly die of embarrassment.

"San?" came Ashitaka's nervous call. "Um... We should probably go..." Slowly, San lifted her head towards Ashitaka. He wanted to go there...? After what happened...? All the blood in the girl's body rushed to her face. She let out a small high-pitched whine, making the boy's cheeks redden. "San, we have to go." He tried, although she was pretty sure he felt as embarrassed as she did. San shook her head, a slightly pleasing look on her face. "San."

"No," she moaned, shacking her head again.

"If we don't, things might get more awkward." San knew he was right, but she couldn't possibly face everyone after something like this.

"I can't." Ashitaka took a deep breath.

"San, you don't have to worry," he said reassuringly, all nervousness suddenly washed away. "Everything's going to be fine, I promise." She wanted to believe him, but her instinct was telling her she should stay away from the others. But then again, it had also told her too jump off a roof a few days ago...

Ashitaka managed to convince San she wouldn't die if she came to the dinning room, but frankly, now that she was there, she wasn't so sure anymore. The awkwardness was suffocating. San didn't dare take even a peak towards Kaya. Ashitaka kept taking glances towards the two girls, feeling a bit distressed and unsure of what to do. The uncomfortable silence between the three was easily perceptible by Toki and her husband.

"Okay," the woman started, putting down her chopsticks. "What exactly is going here?"

"Nothing." Kaya and San answered in union. Even then, they didn't dare exchange glances. Toki cocked a brow, clearly unconvinced. She turned towards Ashitaka.

"And could you, by any chance, enlighten me on the situation?" It sounded more like an order than an actual question.

"Um..." was all Ashitaka managed to nervously say. Toki sighed loudly.

"What? Did Kaya walk on you two kissing or something?" Although the statement was probably just teasing, San felt her heart skip a beat. All the self-control she'd manage to put up to actually sit at the table was gone in flash. Her mind started racing, her instinct begging her to just run, and her face had taken so many shades of red, she was practically sure her head was fuming. Toki stared at her, her eyes and mouth slowly widening.

"S-she did?" came the woman's stunned question.

"NO!" San let out, faaaaar too loudly—she thought she saw Ashitaka wince slightly. "It–it's not like that! It's all a huge misunderstanding! I was just–I was just–I was angry, a–a–and, I just sort of stopped thinking, an–and I was yelling at him and–and–I just.. sort of... leaned really close to him..." She trailed off, as she realized she wasn't making things any less awkward. "I was angry!" She burst out.

"Wow, wow, wow, calm down, missy," Toki chuckled out. "We get it, no need to get all flustered." San felt tired all of a sudden. She let her shoulders slump, her head following suit.

"Why do things always end up like this," she whined miserably. _Today was supposed to be a good day_...

"I'm sorry," a small voice suddenly said. San turned towards Kaya. The raven haired girl kept her head bowed low. "This is my fault. I jumped to conclusions and embarrassed both of you. And I should've knocked." The guilt in Kaya's voice made the wolf girl feel bad.

"It's not your fault," she assured her. "I mean, none of this would've happened if I'd just followed what my instincts." She paused, suddenly realizing how weird that sounded. _Ugh! Brain! Work with me here! _

Toki blinked at that, before giving her guest a perplexed, yet amused look. "And what exactly did your instinct tell you?" San hesitated. Should she say it? She had already pretty much embarrassed herself, so she couldn't possibly go any deeper by now.

"_Punch him in the face_," came her dead-pan quote. There was a silence, where San wondered if what she'd said had been really appropriate. Toki burst out laughing.

"Oh, wow," she let out with a grin. "Those are pretty violent thoughts you got there!"

"I don't believe it," Kohroku said, narrowing his eyes. "How can a cute girl like you think stuff like that?"

"I actually get those pretty often," San admitted with a shrug. "And I follow them most of the time." This made Toki burst into another fit of laughter.

"Ashitaka, is she serious?" the overjoyed housewife asked. Ashitaka nodded.

"She also tends to overreact over things." He added. San gave him an outraged look.

"No, I don't!" She protested.

"Sure, and jumping off a roof isn't overreacting." San stared at him blankly. Did he just...? Did he just...?

"Did you just use sarcasm...?" she asked in disbelief. "Did you seriously just use sarcasm?" That was not natural. Asbel used sarcasm. Nausicäa sometimes. But Ashitaka? He rarely even talked. "That's so weird... Don't do that." This earned her an amused smile from the boy.

"Wait! Waaait!" Kohroku suddenly yelped. "Jumping off a roof?" He turned towards San with a shocked look.

"There was a tree underneath," she sighed. "No big deal." Toki grinned widely at the girl's statement. She turned towards Ashitaka, a look of eagerness on her face.

"I really like this girl!" she beamed at him. "When are you taking her out on a date?" Ashitaka made a small choking sound, his face taking a red tint.

"Toki, I think it's still a bit early for that..." He told her. The woman's grin turned into a smirk.

"Oh, so you've been thinking about it then~"

"...That's not what I said."

"But, you pretty much implied it." Ashitaka said nothing, probably knowing he couldn't win this. This made San sneer viciously, furthermore embarrassing the poor boy and making everyone else laugh. The rest of the dinner was basically Toki chewing on her husband for all he was worth, which soon led to dating advice and warning Kaya about boys. Kohroku and Ashitaka ended up feeling completely left out. Before long, it had gotten really late.

"Well, damn," Toki let out as she glanced at the clock. "It's getting pretty late. I should probably drive you back home, miss."

"Ah, right I'll get my stuff, then." San said she got off her seat.

"I'll accompany you." Ashitaka said as he got up as well. San was about to protest that she knew where the room was, but decided she was too tired to start a fuss.

"In the end, we didn't even finish that assignment." She pointed out in sigh, as they walked to the room.

"We can always see each other during the weekend." Ashitaka proposed. San shrugged.

"I'm not saying no," she said. "But this time, we'll go to the library."

San packed her books into her schoolbag, while Ashitaka waited for her at the door. She carefully placed her written work between two books so it wouldn't scrunch.

"I'm sorry, by the way." The boy said all of a sudden. San turned towards him and blinked confusedly at him.

"What? About the teasing during the dinner?" she asked. "That was nothing, you know. It actually pretty fun." She said with a shrug. Ashitaka shook his head.

"Not that." San stared silently at him, trying to figure out what he was talking about, before finally understanding. _Oh_...

"You mean, the whole health thing..." He nodded slowly.

"I know I made you all worry, and I apologize for that." His voice was calm and steady, but San could hear a bit of sadness. "This isn't against any of you, I want you to understand that. I'm willing to tell you everything, it's just I feel like it's still too soon. All I'm asking is for a little more time." It was San's turn to feel guilty. Of course this was hard for him. Why hadn't she realized that earlier?

"I understand," she said softly. "I guess I should also be apologizing for my behavior."

While Toki went to get her car keys, San bid everyone goodbye. Kohroku seemed a bit sad to see her leave. "You're a really nice girl," he told her. "Promise me you won't become as heartless and scary as my wife." He whispered quickly, though he got caught by his wife, as she was walking right past him. She sent him a glare, silently promising him a nice scolding once she got back home.

"I hope you'll come by sometime," Kaya told her. "I'd really like to get to know you better." San couldn't help but grin at girl.

"Promised, next time I come, it'll be just the two of us." Kaya smiled widely at this.

"Okay, San. Let's go," Toki sang out. "I don't want your parents thinking I'm keeping you hostage." The wolf girl nodded and turned towards Ashitaka.

"Well, then. I'll be seeing you tomorrow." She told the brunette. He smiled, giving her a small nod.

"Have a safe trip." San huffed at this.

"Of course the trip's going to be safe," she said. "I'm pretty sure Toki doesn't want to kill me. Plus,"—Should she say it? Oh, hell! She was saying it!—"I know you wouldn't want anything to happen to me." She added a small wink, to be sure of the total effectiveness of her words. And the result was exactly what she hoped for. Ashitaka's cheeks turned a nice shade of red. San grinned maliciously, in an almost Ichi-and-Ni-like way. Priceless. That look on his face was priceless.

The ride back home was oddly tiring. San dozed off a couple of time. Toki tried to start a conversation, but the girl was barely able to register anything she was saying—this made the housewife laugh. When they finally reached their destination, Toki was astonished by the size of the house.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" she asked. "Because that's too big to be a house." San let out a sleepy chuckle.

"It's an old manor, that's why," she explained. "It's been in the family for centuries." Toki hummed a small 'Mhmm'.

They parted, wishing each other goodnight, and San sluggishly opened the door to her house. She was going straight to bed...

"Well, look who's home early."...Or not... San sighed and turned towards her brothers, who were seating on the staircase in their pajamas,—sleeveless tops and boxers, basically—smirking at her.

"You're lucky," started Ichi. "Mother's been out for three hours now."

"She would've probably killed you if she knew how late you came back." Ni added for good measures. San merely groaned.

"So?" Ichi grinned. "How was it?"

"How was what?" San asked.

"Your date." The twins purred in union. Ugh, knowing them, she was probably not getting any sleep anytime soon. What was the best way of getting rid of those two? Annoying them, obviously. And what better to do so then sleepily blabbering. But she didn't have anything to say... Man, why couldn't she just beam herself up into her bed or something? That would be so convenient... And really awesome too.

"San, you're thinking out loud," came Ni's voice. "Stop it."

"Only if I can go to bed."

The twins sighed loudly. They knew they wouldn't get anything crunchy from their half-awake sister. No use in keeping her there. They pushed aside to let her climb up the stairs, which she did surprisingly quickly, rushing into her room. San let herself fall onto the soft mattress, and sighed in contempt. She closed her eyes and stayed there, too comfortable to even get under the covers. A small smile curled up her lips. Today had been a good day, after all.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes: <strong>Ack! What a terrible terrible ending!

Ah... this was pretty fun to write, though I changed it a couple of times. Not sure if I'm happy or not with some of the parts. Oh, well. And I hope I didn't bother anyone with that little geography. I read somewhere that most of the people who were considered Emishi descendants, probably lived in Hokkaido now. So I thought "Hey! This could actually be interesting!"

In the end, San didn't really learn what was wrong with Ashitaka, and she still knows close to nothing about him. At least they got closer. I think.

Well, not much Ghibli peps in this chapter.

If there are any mistakes, grammar errors or such, feel free to point them out. I stayed up all night to finish this, and I doubt it's very clean... Constructive criticism is very much appreciated. Any advice, ideas or just comment on the story or my writing is very much welcomed


	6. On Hiatus

Hello everyone,

So I'm posting this to show you guys that not only am I alive, but I haven't forgotten this fanfiction. There are multiple reasons as to why I haven't upload, one of them being that I have been busy with my graduation and lots of other things, but the main one being that I have no idea where I'm going with this story. I've been trying to write Chapter 6 since the end of June, but to no avail. I'm completely stuck. Which frustrated me so much I decided to stop trying and just went back to what I do the best: drawing. But than I started feeling guilty... So I'm requesting your help. If you have any suggestions, ideas, anything that could help with this damn writer block, I would be amazingly grateful, and you'd probably get some updates. And to apologies for all the trouble, here, have this picture I drew of Nausicäa, Asbel, Pazu and Sheeta being bros and stuff. ( fc04***dot***deviantart***dot***net/fs70/f/2012/180/9/2/-d55ax9h***dot***jpg)

TheFrenchGal


	7. I'm really sorry

Hello everyone,

Firstly, I'd like to thank PeppermintPeople for their little advice, and secondly, which I shall use next time I suffer from Writer Block, and secondly, I'd like to apologize for what I'm about to do: I am abandoning this story. I don't know if it's temporary or not, but I just can't go on with this fanfiction, for various reasons: I'm undergoing a relatively awkward depression (Awkward because I'm not even sure it's depression, but it's been going for a while and it's getting worse), posting a fanfiction for which I have no ending or well-thought plot was a bad idea in the first place, the prospect of going to College saddens me to an unimaginable level, and lastly, for some reason, the idea of continuing this story scares me and depresses me, which is probably a bad thing since I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to have fun while writing. I'm sorry, guys. I'm breaking the DON'T-EVER-ABANDON-A-STORY-YOU'LL-DECEIVE-YOUR-READERS rule, but I really hate this story with a burning passion at the moment. So this is my last betrayal. I might continue it one day, but knowing myself I probably won't. Sorry again. I hope you can all forgive me.

TheFrenchGal


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